The beginning of a new chapter for Chinese Australians
Over the past couple of years, the world has witnessed a horrific rise in anti-Asian sentiment. And amid the negative rhetoric around the origins of the coronavirus, Sydney’s Chinatown was left reeling. An area once buzzing with character and community, was deadly quiet. Decades-old businesses closed, tourism declined, and Chinatown’s rich cultural legacy was at risk.
Galvanised by these changes, we reached out to MOCA (the Museum of Chinese in Australia). A new museum based in Sydney’s Chinatown, due to open in 2023, we were briefed to help accelerate their next chapter.
Our ambition was simple: to promote the ingenuity, contribution and resilience of Chinese Australians past, present and future.
Creating a home for all
MOCA is a home for Chinese Australian stories. So, we developed a new visual identity built around the idea of home. The roof radical 宀, a Kangxi character used in the Chinese word for ‘home’, symbolises the protection and security a roof provides. It’s the basis of our logo and identity system, acting as a dynamic frame that constantly adapts to house content. Using blue signals a shift from the traditionally red palette associated with China to acknowledge this as a multi-dimensional Chinese Australian story.