Six years ago, I had the privilege of creating the brand identity for Oh Flossy. This week, that work was recognised with the Brand Identity Award from SHE.COM.

And let me tell you, there's something incredibly special about seeing a brand you've nurtured from the very beginning receive industry recognition.

When Vanessa approached me after purchasing Oh Flossy, she had a clear vision. She wanted to create a brand that felt playful, safe and full of personality.

Fast forward six years, and Oh Flossy has grown into one of Australia's leading children's brands, with a strong presence across retail, e-commerce and social media, as well as multiple industry awards recognising its products.

“We wanted to create a brand that felt fun, colourful, safe and completely unique to us. Every detail was considered, from the colours and packaging to the illustrations, website, trade shows and everything in between.”

— VANESSA, Founder & Director, Oh Flossy

While receiving an award is a wonderful milestone, it also reminded me of something I've seen time and time again throughout my career: great brands aren't created because someone designed a beautiful logo, they're built through thoughtful strategy, clarity and consistency.

Brave clients build better brands

This is one of the biggest lessons I've learnt after working with hundreds of businesses.

The projects that go the furthest aren't always the ones with the biggest budgets—they're the ones where the client is willing to trust the process, ask questions and do something a little different.

Oh Flossy did exactly that. We wanted to build a brand that people would instantly recognise and genuinely connect with.

Looking back, I realised that the same principles that create memorable brands are often the ones recognised by awards.

Here are a few of the biggest lessons this project reinforced for me:

1. Strategy comes before design

People often think branding starts with sketching logos.

It doesn't.

The first part of every branding project is asking lots of questions:

Who are we speaking to?

What makes this business different?

How do we want people to feel?

Once we know those answers, the design becomes much easier because every creative decision has a purpose.

For Oh Flossy, we weren't just designing kids’ makeup, we were building trust with parents while creating excitement for children.

2. Authenticity beats trends

Design trends come and go. Authentic brands last because they're built around a genuine personality.

Finding and shaping that brand personality was the first step to achieve a playful, energetic identity that felt unmistakably Oh Flossy.

Looking at the brand today, you’ll notice that everything has been designed to express the brand's personality.

3. Consistency builds recognition

Every detail tells the same story. Award-winning brands feel cohesive because everything works together: logo, typography, colours, illustrations, photography, packaging, tone of voice, etc. Nothing feels accidental.

As the Oh Flossy range expanded from makeup to skincare and accessories, the challenge wasn't creating new designs, it was making every new product feel unmistakably Oh Flossy.

4. Design for your audience

The best identity isn't the one designers or business owners like most. It's the one customers immediately understand, remember and connect with.

Throughout this project, we spent time thinking about both audiences:

Children needed to feel excitement, curiosity and joy.
Parents needed to feel trust, confidence and reassurance.

Finding that balance became one of the defining characteristics of the brand.

5. Emotion creates loyalty

People rarely buy because a logo is pretty. They buy because a brand makes them feel something, whether is trust, joy, confidence, nostalgia, excitement.

Great branding creates emotional shortcuts.

For Oh Flossy, the goal wasn't simply colourful packaging. It was creating the excitement children feel opening something magical, while giving parents confidence that the products inside were gentle, safe and thoughtfully created.

“What I love most is how the Oh Flossy world now feels so recognisable. It is playful and full of heart, but also thoughtful, purposeful and consistent.”

— VANESSA, Founder & Director, Oh Flossy

Over six years, Oh Flossy has launched new products, entered new retailers and continued to grow. The brand has evolved too, but the heart of the brand has remained exactly the same.

To me, that's one of the clearest signs of a successful brand identity.

That's what good branding should do: it gives a business room to grow without losing what made people fall in love with it in the first place.

The real reward

Awards are wonderful milestones, but they're never achieved by designers alone. They happen when passionate business owners trust the process, embrace strategy and stay committed to building something meaningful.

Winning this award is something I'll always be proud of. But if I'm honest, the real reward isn't the trophy.

It's walking into a store and seeing children instantly recognise the brand.

It's watching a business grow with confidence because its brand has grown with it.

And it's knowing that a project that started with a simple conversation six years ago has become something that brings joy to families every day.

That's why I love what I do.

Want to see more? Check out my portfolio pages with some Behind The Scenes of Oh Flossy branding and final results.