Morphettville
New brand gives Morphettville the winning edge.
For more than 140 years, Morphettville has been a place where South Australians have come together to dress up, play up and celebrate.
From cheering legendary racehorses like Black Caviar down the home straight to dancing under the setting sun after the Adelaide Cup, Morphettville has long been at the heart of South Australia's racing culture.
But with a visionary $350 million redevelopment on the horizon, Morphettville was about to become much more than a racecourse.
Fuller was engaged to create a new brand and launch strategy that could honour the tradition and heritage of Morphettville while capturing the energy and excitement of its future.
Challenge
From the home of racing to a destination for everyone.
Morphettville's transformation will introduce a new mix of residential, retail, recreational, entertainment and event facilities over the coming decade.
The challenge was to create a brand capable of bridging these two worlds – respecting the history and elegance of one of South Australia's most significant sporting institutions, while establishing a compelling vision for what comes next.
The new brand needed to retain the spirit of racing, but invite many more people into the Morphettville story.
Discovery & Strategy
Understanding where Morphettville has come from to define where it's going.
As the home of the South Australian Jockey Club, a century-old sporting club, understanding Morphettville's history and heritage was fundamental to the process.
Fuller undertook an extensive Discovery phase, researching the history of horse racing in South Australia and the racecourse, reviewing similar precinct developments from around the globe, and engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders.
Workshops with SAJC members and staff provided valuable perspectives on Morphettville's existing identity, its role in the community and its future.
This research revealed a powerful opportunity: the new precinct could carry the spirit, energy and excitement of racing, while offering far more – and for more people.
Idea
More For All.
This idea became the foundation for the new brand.
More For All connected naturally to the Morphettville name while expressing the breadth of what the precinct would become.
It positioned Morphettville as a place that could retain its connection to racing while opening the door to a much wider range of experiences, audiences and possibilities.
Identity
A distinctive mark with racing at its heart.
At the centre of the visual identity is a distinctive M logo.
Abstractly capturing the mood and energy of horse racing, the mark creates a memorable and ownable symbol for the new Morphettville.
The visual identity was designed to operate at two speeds.
One celebrates the history, elegance, style and tradition of horse racing. The other brings the energy, excitement, fun and diversity of the new Morphettville to life.
A refined palette led by racing green reflects the racecourse's lush landscape and creates a sense of nostalgia, while antique gold introduces a more luxurious expression.
When the brand needs to turn up the energy, a secondary palette inspired by the distinctive colours of jockey silks brings vibrancy, diversity and playfulness to the identity.
Pattern tiles inspired by trainers, jockeys and horses with historical and current connections to Morphettville add another layer of personality and extravagance.
Bringing it to Life
Fuller was also tasked with developing the launch strategy for the new Morphettville brand.
With the redevelopment set to unfold over the next decade, one challenge was immediately clear: the new facilities didn't yet exist, so there was no new precinct to film.
The creative response was to focus instead on the spirit and energy of what Morphettville would become.
The centrepiece of the launch was a brand film that poetically connected the history and tradition of the Morphettville of old with its exciting new future.
A 3D version of the distinctive M logo was brought to life through animation, playfully introducing the many different faces and experiences of the new Morphettville.
A brand ready for what's next.
The new Morphettville brand creates a bridge between more than a century of racing heritage and an ambitious new future. It gives the precinct a flexible identity that can celebrate the elegance and tradition of racing when required, while embracing the energy, diversity and possibility of everything Morphettville is becoming.
