Established in 2015 in Collingwood, OLAVER is a studio of seven architects, graduates and students whose work is grounded in the interplay of flow, light and texture. This conceptual framework sits alongside a rigorous approach to context, sustainability, budget and pragmatism. Balancing austerity with playfulness, the imperfect with the refined, and the historical with the contemporary, OLAVER creates architecture that feels at once grounded and expressive. Their projects embrace contrasts — rough and smooth, minimal and layered — to reveal an ongoing dialogue between material, place and atmosphere.

“We asked to TRiC to help us reignite our brand and provide an identity which better captured our aesthetic and approach. The design discussion was vigorous and we are incredibly happy with the result. Their approach has not only made our brand cohesive but provided a pause for reflection and consideration of how we see ourselves and where we want to be.”

— Emlyn Olaver

Services

  • Art Direction
  • Brand Identity
  • Brand System
  • Creative Direction
  • Digital
  • Graphic Design
  • Logo
  • Print
  • Publication Design
  • Signage & Wayfinding
  • Strategy
  • Website Design & UI
  • Website Development

Credits

Photography: Josh Robenstone
Typography: Field Grotesk & Quadrant Mono (Matter of Sorts)
Web Development: TickTock

BRIEF

In 2020, TRiC were tasked to define the essence and identity of OLAVER’s practice through an extensive rebrand. The task was to create an identity that would reflect the studio’s approach to architecture, marked by a balance of austerity and playfulness, the imperfect and the highly refined, rough and smooth, historical and contemporary. 

Following on from the rebrand, TRiC were tasked in 2024 to redesign the OLAVER website, redefining and simplifying core elements of the brand in the process. 

RESPONSE

In designing the identity, we looked to channel this push-pull of contradictions visually, tackling the project with structure, rigour and play, whilst maintaining a tonally architectural approach to the design.

There was opportunity to create a nice synergy within the identity by using local typography from Melbourne-based typographic practice Matter of Sorts. Variation and layering of typographic styles led to the development of a robust typographic system and visual identity to reflect the balance of austerity and playfulness seen within OLAVER’s practice.

The OLAVER wordmark features high contrast, graphic letterforms that define the overall brand system, extending beautifully into heavy typeset copy, without compromising on character and nuance within the brand. Counter-balanced by secondary type set in a slab serif, a dynamic hierarchy is created, resolving in a restrained graphic language.

Colour has a purely functional role within the brand, which is primarily monochromatic — red is used in the archive and blue on the on-site signage for its vibrancy. We defined these colours in the initial set up of the brand system, with a view to introducing a more reactive, open-ended approach to colour where opportunity arises.

Revisiting the brand for the website redesign in 2024, we looked to simplify the typographic system in place of a more direct, grotesk graphic language. We undertook a holistic redesign of the site visually and structurally, leading with simplicity, a structured grid and prominent white space. We reimagined both the functional elements and navigation, and took the opportunity to better platform the projects and imagery. 

OUTCOME

The type-led brand system provides a clear framework for photography and communication across architectural drawings, formal documents, digital applications, stationery and signage. The identity and website exude a characterful restraint, and are a representation of the aesthetic, charm and credibility of OLAVER.