Tech Central

A pioneering vision for Sydney’s future

Established in 2021, Tech Central is a newly designated tech and innovation district in Sydney, Australia. A collaborative effort by the Government of New South Wales, The Greater Sydney Commission, and a large number of tech and education partners, the district brings together six neighbourhoods that are already home to some of Australia’s most exciting startups and innovative institutions, including three world-class universities, a world-leading research hospital, and over 100 research institutes and centres of excellence, not to mention a number of unicorn tech start-ups like Atlassian and Canva. Some of the district’s long-term goals are to attract 25,000 students, support new scale-up companies, create 25,000 innovation jobs, and facilitate the creation of 250,000 square meters of dedicated office space.

A district of six neighbourhoods

Positioning Sydney as Australia’s innovation centre, the district is giving Sydney a clarity and focus, leveraging the strengths of the city, and providing a place narrative for the area to thrive and create the jobs of the future. This will be the central eco-system for start-ups and established businesses across varied industries, from fin-tech to deep tech and e-Health. Geographically, Tech Central is the largest innovation district in Australia, encompassing six neighbourhoods – Surry Hills, Haymarket, Camperdown, Ultimo, South Eveleigh and Darlington North Eveleigh.

An innovative, collaborative model that draws on the combined expertise of many.

Given the breadth of Tech Central, the scope of stakeholder collaboration has been vast. The creation of the district involved scores of stakeholders. The NSW Government (Greater Sydney Commission, Investment NSW, Transport, Sydney Local Health District) City of Sydney, Inner West Council, University of Sydney, University of Technology, TAFE, Atlassian, CSIRO, Cicada Innovations, Carriageworks, and Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences to name a few.

A variable typeface grounded in the city

The logotype has its origins in a typographic expression of the city streets and blocks. The monogram, a simplified representation that contains both the C and T.

The system leans heavily on typography, utilising a bespoke variable typeface as the key visual identifier, and supported by the highly accessible Public Sans, an open-source Google font. Both of these typefaces have been deployed to enable partners and organisations within the district to easily access and utilise these assets. The combination of both ensures legibility with impact and recognition.

Where culture collides with technology

Its Tech Central brand needed to reflect the diverse communities within its historical precincts, whilst being attractive to future industries and international investment. The identity system is built around the collision of people, place, culture and innovation. Reflecting the diverse character of the six neighbourhoods and communities within the district, the identity is unapologetically urban in character.

The district has strong partnership / collaboration model, accommodating to the ecosystem of brands and partners within the precinct, including University of Sydney, UTS, RPA Hospital, Canva, Atlassian, Cicada and Airtree. This allows each of these organisations to be clearly represented while also lending their credentials to Tech Central as a whole. A key goal for the identity was to engage and inspire usage by the ecosystem of organisations within the region.

A layered tapestry of place

The visual identity is layered with a rich tapestry of the people/place/culture/innovation through photography and typographic expressions of the city life. The Imagery aims capture as much diversity as possible not just in the people we show, but also in industries, lifestyles, and locations.

The city life represented through type and language is designed to capture the mood, sounds, and senses of those city moments taking place within Tech Central. This adds a sense of place to the storytelling, and a way to connect with city life. Visually, it’s designed to feel like a city in constant flow and action.