Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company

An Organisational Re-Brand to Coincide With Their 21 Year Anniversary.

The Client

Yirra Yaakin is one of Australia’s leading Aboriginal performing arts organisations, showcasing award-winning theatre productions that actively promote the Indigenous culture. The organisation is community driven, actively engaging in educational programs and youth workshops in a bid to encourage and further develop Indigenous Australian’s within the theatre industry.

The Brief

After years of operating under the existing brand, twenty-one years marked a transitional phase for Yirra Yaakin, which was to be reflected in this new ‘identity’ to appropriately mark this milestone. The existing brand resided in the past of cultural identity, and with this milestone approaching the company wished to communicate the vision of ‘standing tall’ (meaning of Yirra Yaakin) and lead into future horizons. It was our task to refresh the existing brand into a modern and culturally symbolic image that would powerfully represent the organisation and the Indigenous community for years to come.

To Be Successful

In order to successfully fulfill the brief, it was crucial that we created a new identity for Yirra Yaakin that embraced the historic traditions or ‘roots’ of the organisation whilst also engendering a more modern ‘cutting edge feel’, capturing the future ethos of the company.

Our Approach

We worked closely with the client, as we had to pay particular attention to Noongar Aboriginal customs and beliefs. There were definite parameters that the logo had to meet, which we were mindful of adhering to. The logo that we created had to successfully convey the ‘stand tall’ meaning behind the organisations name, which we creatively reflected in the new branding icon.

What We delivered

We presented to the board and company stakeholders three conceptual design rounds, resulting in the creation of the final logo and corporate identity suite. Ultimately, we refreshed the brand to be distinct, whilst reinforcing the reputable and culturally dominant position of the existing brand. This was to resonate the powerful key message that drives the organisations existence, in a bid to empower the continuation of strong relationships between the organisaiton, sponsors, supporters and the greater community.

Moving Forward

The brand that we developed was well received by Yirra Yaakin and the Indigenous community at large, resulting in the brand being applied to its ongoing annual seasons, which includes all theatre productions.

Testimonial

“Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company has been a client of Bevin Creative since late 2012 and have enjoyed a wonderful partnership with Ben and his staff over this time. BEVIN Creative has provided us with many beautiful design concepts and graphic collateral for our shows, events & activities.

A highlight was the conceptualisation, presentation and production of our new branding, which was launched at our 21st Birthday community celebration in February 2014. The immediate feedback from our community was the image perfectly reflected our Company as a strong Aboriginal performing arts company that “stands tall”, which is what the Noongar words, ‘Yirra Yaakin’ represents. Their high level of professionalism and generosity towards our organisation is exceptional and we look forward to many more years working the Bevin team, as our Company grows from strength-to-strength.”

– Peter Kift MIPA AFAIM [General Manager, Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company]