Planes, Trains & Autos
Festival brand celebrating transportation heritage
Brand identity for Ipswich's annual May long weekend celebration of aviation, rail, and automotive history. Created billboards, signage, and brand guidelines for a heritage festival drawing 15,000+ visitors to the Queensland Museum Rail Workshops and venues across the city.
The Challenge
Planes, trains, and automobiles. Three distinct transportation modes. One weekend festival celebrating Ipswich's industrial and defence heritage. The May long weekend draws 15,000+ visitors to the Queensland Museum Rail Workshops for Fully Charged, the festival's flagship event. Interactive displays, emergency vehicle demonstrations, skateboarding workshops, vintage car shows, hot rods at the Retro Picnic.
The festival needed a brand that could unite aviation, rail, and automotive under one identity. Something that celebrated heritage without feeling dated. The brand had to work on billboards promoting the festival months in advance. On signage guiding families through the Rail Workshops. Across multiple events spanning the long weekend.
And it needed to last. Council teams adapt the brand year after year without designer involvement. It had to capture the excitement of transportation history while staying flexible for annual refresh. Strong enough to represent all three modes. Timeless enough to work for years.
The Solution
We built the brand around vintage transportation aesthetics. Bold typography inspired by mid-century industrial signage. Visual elements that nod to aviation, rail, and automotive heritage without favoring one over the others. The kind of identity that feels like it's always been part of Ipswich's industrial landscape.
Billboards went up across Ipswich ahead of the May long weekend. Large-format designs announcing planes, trains, and autos in one unified voice. Building anticipation for weeks before the festival kicked off.
During the festival, the brand showed up everywhere. Signage at the Rail Workshops guiding 15,000+ visitors through displays and demonstrations. Wayfinding at the Mustang Car Show. Branding for the Retro Picnic with its hot rods and classic cars. Same identity, multiple applications.
We delivered comprehensive brand guidelines for Council teams. Typography standards, color usage, layout templates. Everything needed to adapt the brand across future festivals. Works for the main Fully Charged event at Rail Workshops. Works for the weekend's car shows and picnics. The system holds together.
The brand unites three transportation modes across one long weekend. Planes, trains, autos. All celebrated through one visual language that honors Ipswich's industrial heritage.
The Brand System
A festival celebrating three distinct transportation modes needed a brand flexible enough to represent all of them without favoring any single one. The solution was a heritage-inspired system that could adapt across billboards, signage, and annual festival variations while maintaining consistent recognition.
Celebrating Heritage
Ipswich has a proud industrial and defence history. The Queensland Museum Rail Workshops site is part of that legacy. The festival brings that history alive through interactive experiences with planes, trains, and automobiles.
The brand needed to reflect that heritage without looking like a museum exhibit. Vintage-inspired typography that feels authentic, not nostalgic. Visual language that celebrates the past while staying relevant for modern families visiting the festival.
Built for Flexibility
The brand appears on billboards months before the festival. On signage at the Rail Workshops during the event. Across car shows, picnics, and demonstrations spanning the May long weekend.
Council teams refresh the brand each year. New events get added. Programming changes. The brand guidelines give them everything they need to maintain consistency. That's what makes a festival brand work year after year.
