Cairns Crocodiles has a new brand identity for the 2027 festival, designed by The Misfits Media Company’s in-house senior designers, Olivia Gordon and Elizabeth Sharko.

The new creative is a striking departure from the incremental evolutions of recent years, stripping back the festival’s signature motifs, the crocodile and cassowary, to their most essential shapes, through a new illustrative style and colour palette

The pair also moved away from a singular hero image to a flexible system of motifs that can scale from a six-metre event screen down to a two-inch sticker.

“When you’re designing for an event, you have to think about so many platforms at once,” Gordon and Sharko stated. “We wanted a creative that could be blown up or chopped right down and still be instantly recognisable. That was the challenge, but it’s also what made it fun. Every piece, every colour, is deliberate.”

The starting point wasn’t a screen. It was scissors and paper. Gordon and Sharko began by mapping the key motifs of Cairns’ landscape and the industries the festival represents, before physically cutting up shapes to find the identity’s building blocks. 

“We wanted people to feel a nostalgic connection to what we all loved as kids, cutting things up, playing with blocks and colours, and just having fun,” Sharko commented.

That hands-on process formed the concept behind the campaign itself: the “spark” every creative recognises when an idea suddenly clicks.

“The way we got back to that was by playing, crafting and doing, literally using our hands to make real things. In today’s digital world, that felt like a rebellion,” added Gordon. “Hands have always been a symbol of connection to other people, and using ours is what makes our work feel real to us.”

While the visual style has shifted, the identity’s foundations remain. The crocodile, cassowary and Cairns itself remain at the heart of the brand, while the way they are interpreted can continue to change.

“The industries we speak to are always evolving, and creativity is too,” Gordon and Sharko added. “We want to grow with the landscape around us and be challenged every year. We always reference the past, but we look ahead to the future.”

The introduction of the Film & Screen track in 2026 also gave the pair a new set of symbols to play with. A microphone and camera now sit alongside the core Cairns Crocodiles motifs and imagery, along with a personal touch from Sharko’s New Zealand heritage: a jandal tucked into the artwork.

The new identity is built around the idea, built around the idea, connection, craft and play, and developed through collaboration. “Having two designers on one project will always involve a bit of push and pull,” Gordon and Sharko explained. “But what’s amazing is how our styles complemented each other. This is the brainchild of both of us. It wouldn’t exist without us coming together and pushing each other to try something new.”

The new Cairns Crocodiles identity, with its various iterations across the Film & Screen track, Cairns Crocodiles Awards, The Hatchlings and Cairns Masterclass, is rolling out now on digital assets and will come to life across the festival when it returns to Cairns from 25–27 May 2027.