Fresh From The Field – Lake Hawea Station by One Design
This Fresh from the Field features One Design’s beautifully crafted and refined branding for Lake Hawea Station. There’s a classic elegance on all touch points with outstanding photography, and the delicate Kowhai seedling is a nod to their unwavering commitment to conservation.
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The brief:
When Geoff and Justine Ross purchased 6,500 hectares of remote backcountry in Lake Hawea, they had an ambitious vision for a new type of farming, one that firmly puts the environment first.
We were tasked to develop a modern brand to represent their pioneering approach in an industry which our country depends on, and one which desperately needs to change.
Lake Hawea Station is one of New Zealand’s premier High Country Stations with flocks of purebred Merino sheep and Angus cattle. The station also is home to luxury accommodation, hunting, biking and hiking tracks and is a venue for weddings and events, as well as film and photographic shoots.
The design response:
Rethinking every farming decision meant breaking new ground with every step on their journey, with their commitment to conservation and biodiversity as the foundational tenet.
For example – the first step taken by the new owners (in 2018) was to fence a stunning mature Kowhai Grove. In doing so the Kowhai themselves, their seedlings and other juvenile natives were liberated from years of stock invasion. Then they liberated a 35m strip along the lake. Then they planted ten thousand trees creating a new native forest and also fenced off the stations seven kilometers of lakefront from stock. Next, they looked to the critically endangered species and asked “How can we support and liberate these?”
Lake Hawea Station’s unique approach did not lend itself to a traditional farm brand (complete with etched illustration of the pastures). Instead, it required a refined mark, with a classic elegance to support their innovation strategy well into the future.
A circular LHS monogram coupled with an unfussy wordmark was developed to uphold this thinking. The circular device was important to support the idea of regenerative agriculture, and the constant moving of the dial towards the goal of being 10 x carbon positive (with carbon clear products already in market). The monogram allows for functional application to an endless amount of farming tools, garments, animal tags, vehicles, signage, products (honey etc), plus social and digital requirements.
To complete the suite of brand assets we developed a talisman in the form of a kowhai seedling, representative of everything which the brand encompasses – growth, nurturing and regeneration.
Credits & Collaborators:
- Design Director – Rachel Doughty
- Design Director – David Macdonald
- Designer – Briar Mark
