Adventures in design
My name is Duncan Grant. I’m a graphic designer and web developer, and director here at Studio Outside. Along with our collaborators we offer a full service for branding, visual communications in print and digital, video production, photography, content and bespoke web development.
About you
Our clients provide unique services, products and experiences that broaden people's horizons and make life better.
Tourism, health & wellness, the outdoors, destinations, adventure sports, nature and the arts.
Your customers are seeking to fulfill their health and lifestyle goals. This is very personal, which presents a challenge for brands who want to form strong relationships with their customers. This is our area of expertise.
Working with Studio Outside
We work with all kinds of organisations from small businesses and startups to large marketing teams with established brands; government, private and community sectors.
Every client is different so we stay nimble and nurture the process and relationships to get the best outcome. It's about the journey.
Our clients tell us they appreciate our dedication which goes beyond that of your average agency. We’re team players. We don't see how it can work any other way.
About us
Every cub scout knows to pack a Swiss Army knife to Be Prepared. Well, now you've got us, a veritable multi-tool of design and production services for branding, print and websites.
Everything we do is design driven, meaning we approach every project on a mission to solve problems and create benefit for you and your customers.
Everything we do is bespoke—you won't find cheap templates pulled off the shelf. This includes our unique web development services which see us write every line of code, and we host and maintain it, providing a stable platform where anything is possible.
What we create for you will be designed and created without compromise. And this is what makes it so effective and cost-effective. Try us with a free quote.
Milestones
We designed and built our first website in 1999, and first ecommerce website in 2000.
Studio Outside was established in 2009 in the Blue Mountains NSW to specialise in tourism, health and the outdoors.
One of our retail websites, Nourished Life, won a Telstra Business Award in 2016 for its groundbreaking design and web development.
As specialists Studio Outside brings the benefit of industry know-how to the table.
Our mission
Our mission is to bring more people to the outdoors and nature. When we help our clients win more customers we achieve our mission.
"If we can teach people about wildlife, they will be touched. Share my wildlife with me. Because humans want to save things that they love. ...If we save our wild places, we will ultimately save ourselves."
Everyone has a part to play.
Get our socials:
Health, tourism, the outdoors... what's the common thread?
Emotional rewards. No matter their age or other demographics your market is seeking to better themselves and expand their horizons . To summarise it in a few words: recreation, adventure, personal growth.
Emotions are a key factor in branding for your customers because they are seeking new experiences and a kind of fulfillment and personal growth that they can't get elsewhere.
This is the source of your "only factor", but it also presents your biggest challenge. Customer expectations are off the charts. If you're intersted in more of our thoughts on this topic check out our article How outdoor and wellness brands win customers and keep them.
We work with brands right these industries:
- Destination and place brands
- Adventure experiences & activity
- Outdoor clothing and equipment
- Adventure races and sports events
- Outdoor education
- Therapy services
- Retail B2C brands
- Accommodation
- Restaurants and cafés
- Artists
Why branding?
Marketing costs money, time, usually both. Imagine having to spend it twice over, every time you won someone's custom?
You probably have...
A well implemented brand will make your marketing spend go further, because it helps solve these types of problems:
"I can't remember if it was you or those guys [competitor]."
"I went on a trip with you guys three years ago..."
"I've always wanted to try this."
...You've either missed an opportunity, or are just plain forgettable.
This happens when the relationship between the business and the customer has not formed properly, missing its mark.
To win them back you need to spend more on marketing to re-engage with them, assuming you get that opportunity.
Branding is often conflated with marketing or just a logo. They all go hand in hand, but branding provides the foundations for marketing and the customer relationship.
Think of it like nutrition for an elite athlete—with the wrong ingredients and strategy you will get sub-optimal performance.
At Studio Outside we ensure your brand is informing everything we design for you: your logo, your brochure, your website, your video... If the brand strategy isn't informing decisions, no matter how small the project is, it will be sub-optimal.
Win new customers more easily and keep them for the long term with a well conceived brand that appeals to the right customers.
Be compelling, memorable and set expectations so you can build trust. With the right strategy tailored to your business and customer journey, you get customers who 'get' you and truly appreciate what you do.
Find out more about our services and process »
About our work
If you've taken a look at some of our work you may have noticed that it varies in style. We design fit-for-purpose which means you won't get hit with a designer ego or a one-size-fits-all 'house style'.
Instead we draw inspiration from your brand's attributes, its markets and desired outcomes, so the things we make have a look that is uniquely yours.
We consistently produce work that delivers what it promises by practising what we call fresh air thinking. It's how we stay mindful of your brand and your broader vision to give it the best chance it has.
About this website
View some of our design work and read about the original brief and our solution.
To understand how we work, check out our design and copywriting services and process.
Don't miss our blog Wilder, written by our Creative Director Duncan Grant. It's your opportunity to learn more about branding and marketing from an outdoor perspective.
What we really want to do is meet you. Let set up a video call »
Meet Duncan Grant
"I'm the Creative Director at Studio Outside. I started my graphic design career in the late 90s designing magazines Australian Triathlete and SkiExtra and developed their first websites in 1999. Then I fell into working with clients in theatre and the wellness industry and naturally picked up clients in the outdoor industry in line with my personal interests. I knew I had acheived some success when a project required me to spend two days bushwalking. :-)
"I've chosen to focus Studio Outside on tourism and health because it combines my passions. There is a natural synergy between these industries. There is clear evidence of growth in these industries which is fantastic because it will bring more people back to nature.
"When I'm not at my desk I'm out climbing, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, occasionally sailing, or just exploring off the beaten path at my home in the Blue Mountains NSW. I'm married and father of three young adventurers.
"My other job is volunteer firefighter at NSW Rural Fire Service as a Deputy Captain. Recently I have seen action in flood recovery and on the front line of the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. It was heartbreaking to see some of our clients so affected by those fires, especially Selwyn Snow Resort, but it's great to see them coming back stronger.
"In 2022 I launched my blog Wilder to help the industry attract more punters and save some money on marketing by getting better at branding. I find it funny when brands try to fake it and there's always a lesson in where they went wrong.
"I believe the more people we attract to the outdoors the more chance we have of saving the planet."
