Balarinji was engaged by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) to design a Nation Brand Mark and graphics to raise the profile of Australian goods and services internationally and attract investment and visitors.

Australian businesses and industry have long called for a strong and consistent nation brand to address a perceived ‘uncoordinated and fragmented’ approach by Australia on the world stage. The 2017 Foregin Policy White Paper recommended Australia develop a stronger nation brand.

The nation brand had to be recognised as quintessentially Australian, create pride among Australians, as well as have an innovative edge and sector-agnostic design.

Australia’s foremost Indigenous design studio, Balarinji, created a unique and contemporary Mark featuring Australia’s most recognisable symbol, the kangaroo, in a way that reflects Australia as a future facing nation. The kangaroo is meaningful to cultural identity in many parts of Aboriginal Australia, and fondly ubiquitous for all Australians. It tells the story of Country, of belonging and of living sustainably.

The kangaroo’s story began in the Dreaming when Spirit Kangaroos crossed the land, naming the rivers, valleys and hills. The kangaroo is central to the identity of cultural groups in every corner of Australia. Songlines follow the ancestral journeys of the kangaroo, they teach each new generation the stories of Country.

The kangaroo is bounding forward, reflecting Australia’s optimism. It is formed by a contemporary expression of three boomerangs. The head is the hooked ‘7’ boomerang used in ceremonies as a percussive, rhythmic instrument for song and dance.

Balarinji’s response for the Nation Brand Mark is strongly Indigenous and recognisably Australian domestically and internationally. The Mark represents the recognition of a contemporary Australia, one that is becoming increasingly open to its original cultural and spiritual lifeblood through equality and inclusivity.

The Mark evokes an emotional response to belonging, from an authentic and contemporary embedding in Country, informed by Aboriginal knowledge, stories and culture. The design of the Mark is sector-agnostic for its target audience so it can be used by many different Australian businesses and industries to connect to it in a global context.

The Mark is a first for Australia. A distinctively Indigenous logo that brands the nation with its foundational story as Australians in the world. It is inspired by the concept of ‘yamulhu awara ambirriju’ from Balarinji co-founder, John Moriarty’s Yanyuwa language spoken by families in Borroloola, NT. It means ‘good country up ahead, good feeling for the future’. It’s about Australia’s rich Aboriginal heritage and the nation’s irrepressible optimism.

The cultural magnitude of the Mark is immense as it marks a significant new way for Australians to identify as a nation that embraces its rich 60,000+ year-old Aboriginal heritage. It is groundbreaking and timely to have Australia engage the world in a fresh design approach that embraces and incorporates Indigenous culture so strongly and authentically within our national identity and to take it global.

For Balarinji Co-Founder and Cultural Director, Yanyuwa man John Moriarty AM, it is a restorative statement by a nation that took him from his mother at age 4 under Australia’s Stolen Generations policies, and a powerful acknowledgement of Australian identity. It provides inspiration to other businesses to consider the nation’s social history and see the power of visual acknowledgement in Australia’s foundational narrative.

Australia’s foundational Aboriginal narrative offers an original frame of thinking that has largely been missing from Australian design. Balarinji’s Nation Brand Mark challenges Australian designers, their clients and their category audience to re-evaluate and improve how they consider the Aboriginal worldview in Australia’s identity. And how to incorporate authentic co-design principles in genuine collaboration with Indigenous designers.

The Mark has been very well received after it tested extremely well in international and domestic market research that showed it was considered representative of a modern, capable and inclusive country.

Testing via comprehensive independent international and domestic research shows measureable business success for the Mark. It is considered representative of a modern, capable and inclusive country. Testing feedback included:

Internationally, it’s instantly recognisable and identifiable as Australian.
It creates a sense of pride among Australians.
Australian businesses like and endorse it.
A wide range of businesses said they would use the new logo, with its innovative edge and sector-agnostic design.
The majority of Australians surveyed see having an Indigenous design reflected in the nation brand as important.

This all points to the Mark being a beacon of positive change in Australia with a unique identity in the world that all Australians can share.