Rebrand for Global Travel Company

Your Task - Elevate a Market Challenger HolidayMax is looking for a world-class brand strategist and designer to define the next chapter of our identity. We have achieved massive success in Australia and have now launched in the US, but our visual identity hasn't kept pace with our growth. We need a modern, high-impact brand system that captures our unique position in the market and solves our communication tensions: How do we project "5-star luxury" while maintaining a "fun travel experience"? How do we communicate "premium quality experiences" while our products have unbeatable value. If you are a specialist who thrives on positioning, building iconic "stylisation devices," and bridging the gap between high-tech efficiency and aspirational travel, this is your opportunity to lead a comprehensive refresh for a major travel brand. Who We Are? HolidayMax is a Global Tour Operator and Luxury River Cruise Line. We are Australia’s largest private travel company. We deliver exceptional quality guided touring experiences around the world and luxury river cruises in our own feet of premium riverships. We take the hard work of travel by providing ready-made holidays that are all-inclusive, complete with flights and transfers - all easy to book online. We are a tech-driven, vertically integrated powerhouse that owns the entire customer journey. By cutting out the middleman and through our disciplined approach to internal efficiency we can pass on huge savings directly to our customers. Our Core Principle: High-quality holiday experiences at unbeatable prices. This unique approach is shaking up our sector and continues to drive extraordinary growth. In Australia we are highly recognised by our core 50+ market; and since our October launch in America we’ve experienced instant traction and amazing growth. With teams based in Australia, London, Rome, New York, Amsterdam, Cape Town, Tokyo, Hanoi, Bangkok, Colombo and Manila - this family owned and operated company has grown into a highly respected global Tour Operator and River Cruise Line. What is The Goal? Our current branding is distinctive but no longer reflects who we have become. We need a visual language that is modern, stylish, fun and classy without feeling pretentious or old-school. We are contemporary in spirit: efficient, smart, and customer-focused, not stuffy or legacy-clunky. We need to communicate: - Authority: We are the leader in our segment. The brand must convey trust and total competence. - Premium Quality: A polished vibe that counters the assumption that "affordable" equals "cheap". - Ease: A brand that feels seamless, tech-forward, and intuitive. - Fun: A personality that is uplifting, bright, and distinctly HolidayMax; but never cheesy or unserious. It is vital that HolidayMax’s branding remains highly distinctive and memorable, even from just a brief exposure to our marketing communications. Competitive Landscape We compete against legacy river cruise lines (like Viking, AmaWaterways, APT, Scenic, Avalon, Uniworld) and tour operators (like Globus Tours, Gate1 Travel) that feel clunky and/or pretentious, and budget brands that lack our product quality. We operate in a wide-open "blue ocean" space focusing on the mid-market - your task is to ensure customers feel the quality of our products without losing our fun personality. Project Scope This project will be executed in two phases. Phase 1: Paid Pitch (The Vision) We will select 5-6 select designers to participate in a paid pitch. We will provide a more detailed Phase 1 Brief. We want to see your strategic direction through: - Typography exploration. - A "stylisation device" (e.g., a signature dynamic element). - Three distinctive creative directions, each applied to: Facebook static ad creatives, rivership liveries, one webpage design, one brochure layout. Phase 2: The Full Refresh The winner of Phase 1 will be retained to complete the full project, including: - Full brand identity development and refinement. - Creation of a comprehensive Brand Guidelines document. - A specialised digital style guide for our software development team. - Design of physical brand assets (e.g., collateral, merchandise, uniforms). We will provide a detailed Phase 2 Brief. What We’re Looking For We are seeking a designer that understands the tension between exceptional value and luxury and can translate that into a visual language that feels fresh, distinctive, and instantly recognizable. If you are a specialist who thrives on solving complex brand positioning challenges through clean, modern, and high-impact design, we want to hear from you. How to Apply We need to show us examples of work that you feel captures your capacity to excel in this project. Please provide: Portfolio Highlights: Specifically link to projects where you have repositioned a brand or managed a refresh for a company in a competitive, consumer-facing market. Indicate your degree of involvement in each project Strategic Approach: A brief summary (3–5 sentences) of how you approach balancing "luxury perception" with "value-driven messaging." Your Rate: Please confirm your hourly rate for the project. We will be reviewing applications to select our designers for the Phase 1 paid pitch. More about us: https://www.holidaymax.com/about/profile