Meet the business
November 2008. Kate and Oscar bought a Brisbane salon that was about to shut its doors, with zero experience in the hair industry between them. Day one’s inventory, no appointments in the diary, no employed hairdressers onsite, three hair stations and two basins. They were (in their words) regarded by many as a little bit crazy.
So they bought it anyway. Today Elysium Hair Brisbane is a multi-award-winning salon spread across 212 square metres in the heart of the CBD, run by a team of 11 and delivering its signature experience to thousands of happy guests. It’s one of Australia’s first fully accredited green salons, recycling up to 98% of all salon waste and it specialises in something the industry talks about and rarely delivers… delightfully personalised hair experiences that care beyond the hair.
The moment
By 2021, Kate and Oscar were approaching their fourth shot in a row at being crowned Australian Salon of the Year. The care was already extraordinary, the systems were already obsessive (in the best way). What they wanted was a look and feel that matched the level of experience and expertise the business delivers daily… next-level industry leader status, worn on the outside.
"I have a very established business and was looking to refresh with some modern vibes, modern fonts and just a bit of a freshen up."
What was really going on
Our discovery process found a brand with a personality already fully formed and waiting for its wardrobe. Elysium’s core mixes the joyful, the magician and the sage… here to spread joy and use wisdom to create memorable experiences of transformation. Optimistic, wise, experts in hair. And behind the guest experience sits the other thing the work had to protect, Elysium is a sought-after employer for self-confessed people-people, the ambitious kind who don’t settle for average and give their best to elevate human experiences. The brand had to keep recruiting them as surely as it recruits guests.
The discovery also named the standard experience most people expect… the customer gets a haircut or a colour and then leaves. No connection, no ritual, no reason to rave. Elysium is the opposite of nothing and the refresh had to make that visible before they’re even through the door.
"Digital Bloom, absolute delight to work with."
The discovery
The dream guest arrived from the discovery in full colour… found grazing at Grecka, downward dogging at yoga or drinking cocktails with friends. Mainly ladies 25 to 45 across Brisbane, sharing an attitude more than an age… nice, good, happy humans. She’s wary of the big fancy salons and unwilling to risk the bad ones, doesn’t shop on price, and values one thing above all… the experience, and the feeling of choosing somewhere trusted. She’s relieved Elysium’s open after city work hours and the eco touches are a lovely surprise on top (Carrie would have written a whole column alone just about the snack trays).
The brand’s ethos was already on the wall, connection, kindness and integrity, guests greeted by name, quotes given up-front so she can actually relax, plain language instead of technical jargon. Loyal clients are treated better than new ones, never worse, never competing on price and worth every cent. The discovery’s job wasn’t invention here… it was translation, taking a culture this deeply considered and giving it a look that says so at first glance.
Behind the name
Elysium is the mythic version of a happy place… the blissful fields, the good ending, heaven with better lighting. For a salon whose own copy promises a happy hair heaven, the name was never the problem and nobody touched it. The refresh simply let the brand finally dress like its meaning… somewhere you arrive a little frazzled and leave, as their team puts it, spritzed, spruced and strut-ready.
The wordmark stays lowercase (Kate loved the lowercase before and so our refresh honoured it), set simple and classy because simple travels… signage, print, social, packaging, the lot, without ever losing itself.
The choice nobody would notice is the whole repositioning, the typeface moved from sans serif to serif. Those little tails on the letters (technical term) read as luxe at a subconscious level and they quietly walk the brand from friendly-neighbourhood towards sophisticated, chic and very much in the city (without frightening off the guest who’s wary of fancy). One typeface decision, doing the work of a whole repositioning campaign.
The E earned its own life as a logo variation and sub mark, strong enough alone to hold a profile picture, a sticker, a mirror talker. And the palette (with suitably quirky colour names) carries one finishing touch, a rose gold foil accent, carried tastefully on textured card and translated digitally, because foil done right is the perfect hint of luxe and foil done wrong is a cautionary tale. This one’s done right (promise).
The system
Visual identity refresh and glow up
The logo overhauled and built into a full suite of variations, fonts, colours and imagery.
Style guidelines
How to carry the new look consistently across every platform.
Email signature designs
Creative direction
Across the in-salon photo shoot, the interior upgrades (paint swatches, hair station styling, refreshment items) and the social media aesthetic.
Signage update
Exterior and interior.
Industry awards submission graphics
And templates for future entries.
The Luxe Loop VIP rewards program
The thinking, the logo and the packaging.
"Digital Bloom made it fun. They really did over deliver on my expectations and they were so great to work with."
The outcomes
First, the outcome you can only see up close. Kate rolled the new brand out with the most efficient, attention-to-detail application we’ve ever watched a client make… down to updated serving trays at each workstation and the exact Pantone match painted onto the salon walls. She brought her whole team into the feedback process, and asked her dream guests too. When a client repaints the walls to the brand’s exact Pantone, the brand hasn’t just been approved. It’s been felt.
“But it’s great to freshen that up and show your team what a great business you have and how you’re constantly evolving and moving with the time.”
“We definitely noticed lots of positive feedback from clients, lots of great responses and I’m sure it resulted in us helping to grow our business and also resonate more with our team.”
The Pantone walls and the serving trays, above.
The season now
Elysium keeps doing what Elysium does… refreshing imagery yearly, upgrading the space, running the mane matcher, filling Luxe Loop treat boxes and caring beyond the hair for thousands of Brisbane guests. The awards submission templates are loaded for every future tilt at the big one. And the salon that started with three chairs and an empty diary now sets the standard other salons submit against.