Platform

Craft, Design & Culture
in the Clouds

2016 — 2018

Platform Logo

Photo: Ona Janzen

Platform’s mission is both simple and ambitious: to celebrate the art forms that are traditionally excluded and to make art and culture more accessible. Since opening in early 2017, Platform has done exactly that, with a series of exhibitions that have explored themes such as plastic, weeds, grief, waste, and memory. Through these events, Platform has helped galvanise the local art scene and revitalise a neglected part of its home in Katoomba. This is a purposeful, community focused project with real style.

Founded by wife-and-wife team Kelly & J.L Heylen, Platform is not just a gallery, it’s also a retail outlet and a communal space, with plans to expand into entirely new areas in 2018. Heath worked closely with Platform to craft a unique identity and continues to evolve the brand as the project itself evolves.

Platform founders Kelly & JL ● Photo: Ona Janzen

Curator Kelly wanted Platform to look and feel different from any other gallery. Inspiration was drawn from industrial branding, and the identity is built using bespoke typography. A range of symbols as well as letters were created using this custom typeface which can be contracted or expanded into expressive and decorative forms, as demonstrated below. These typographic tools are used as the basis for stationery designs, advertising, publishing, and campaign materials.

Platform logo featuring bespoke typography

One possible activation of the Platform typeface

Platform Tagline

Platform icons: Craft, Design, and Culture

To complete the branding toolkit, a distinctive colour palette was required to further emphasise the Platform point of difference - which seeks to challenge the cold, indifferent gallery experience. A vibrant pink and a deep charcoal were chosen for this very purpose.

Business Card — rose gold foil on charcoal stock

Letterhead

Gift box

Social media avatar & banner template

Platform branding used in promotional video

Assorted Social media templates & designs

A flexible invitation flyer was created, with a template that allows for a deluxe version with rose-gold foiling on charcoal stock, or an all-purpose, D.I.Y version that can be printed in-house on a consumer inkjet — depending on the nature of the show and the intended audience. Almost all of the Platform materials designed by Heath were made to be easily used by the Platform team themselves, giving the client direct ownership over their tools while also ensuring that the necessary consistency and quality will be preserved.

‘Deluxe’ Platform show flyer template

‘D.I.Y’ Platform show flyer template

Rather than producing expensive catalogues that don’t get read, Heath produced a zine template that the Platform team can easily populate and produce. The zine felt like more of a lo-fi, community driven way of communicating news and happenings, which suited the brand perfectly. The use of widely available pink stock provides an economical but strong branding tool, which simply needs to be fed through a photocopier once the content is ready.

Platform zine in the exhibition space ● Photo: Ona Janzen

Zine Front Cover

Editorial from the curator

Exhibition Spread

Exhibition Spread

Exhibition Spread

Event Listings

Artist Profile

Zine Back Cover

Platform’s courageous and inventive entrepreneurial spirit is paying off. The gallery has gone from strength to strength since its opening, with each new show more successful than the last. The Platform team have also already begun expanding their community projects, with regular zine workshops, a feminist book club, and free ‘craftanoon’ events happening on the weekend.

It’s a friendly place, self assured and showing real leasership rather than following the herd. It also provides a genuinely community focused service. Judging by the many plans that will soon be activated, Platform will continue to set a new benchmark for small local galleries well into the future.