When Resources and Infrastructure Industry Skills Council came to us, they were suffering from an identity crisis. As the industry skills council supporting the mining, drilling, quarrying and civil infrastructure industries, they have an important part to play in the training and development of some of Australia’s most booming areas. However, not only was their name a mouthful and often misunderstood, but the shorted version, RIISC, opened them up for the occasional unhelpful remark.

Our first step, was to carry out research into the industries involved, immersing ourselves in the needs of their clients, understand the issues that the company faced. Next, we held a series of workshops with key stakeholders of the organization. During these workshops, everyone had a say, with a clear understanding that there were no right or wrong answers and no conclusions. Then, we funneled down all the information to a key point of difference for the organization. This isn’t as simple as it sounds – it often takes hours of internal workshops to find the simplest, clearest message required.

We concluded that RIISC isn’t about machinery, but more about people. This hadn’t been properly reflected in materials to date.The company could also be summed up in one word – skills. After much deliberation, we renamed the company as SkillsDMC.The logo and visual material, too, needed to reflect the industries which the company represent. The cool,
steely grey and the earthy red, the DMC built upwards on its side as though on a construction site, the modern typefaces and the overall composition placed the company firmly in the 21st Century.

SkillsDMC launched at their National Conference in August 2007, to a resoundingly positive reception. Even those initially sceptical have wholeheartedly embraced the new direction – it has given the company renewed vigor and enthusiasm, and made everyone proud to work for such a modern, energetic organization.