The Best Brand I’ve Ever Designed Started on a Train

By Justine Malone, Creative Director, Brand Strategist & Photographer at malone—co studio, Melbourne.

I spend a lot of time thinking about other people’s businesses. Not because I sit down every morning and decide that’s what I’m going to do, but because once we’ve started working together, my brain doesn’t really let them go. I’ll be walking the dog, standing in line for a coffee or driving home from the studio, and something will click. A conversation, a colour, the way light hits a building, a sentence from a book. I don’t go looking for ideas. They just have a habit of finding me.

A few weeks ago, I was on the train reading through one of our client’s strategy documents. She’d written most of it herself before she came to us, which I always love because there’s something incredibly honest about reading someone’s thoughts before they’ve been refined. I was highlighting sections, scribbling little notes in the margins, when I came across four words: **meaning before movement**.

I don’t even remember finishing the paragraph. I looked up, and the train had just slipped into one of those tunnels where the light flickers through the trees. Everything outside the window blurred together. Dark. Then bright. Then dark again. It wasn’t the trees I was looking at anymore; it was the feeling of movement. It was that strange transition between being outside yourself and suddenly being drawn inward.

The client I was reading about works with founders, CEOs and leaders who spend most of their lives carrying pressure. Her work isn’t about giving people answers. It’s about creating the space for them to sit with uncertainty long enough to hear themselves think again. Somewhere between those four words on the page and the blur outside the train window, her entire brand began to unfold.

I didn’t see a logo. That’s never how it happens. I saw texture. Atmosphere. Space. A colour palette that hadn’t existed five seconds earlier. I could feel how the photography needed to breathe, how the artwork should move, how every touchpoint needed to create the same quiet tension between movement and stillness. If you asked me where those ideas came from six months later, I probably would have said they just felt right. But that’s not really true. They came from a train ride. They came from paying attention.

People often ask what they’re actually paying for when they invest in branding. It’s an understandable question because the tangible things are easy to list: a logo, a colour palette, typography, brand guidelines, photography, a website. They’re the things you can see. What you can’t see is that, somewhere along the way, someone has started carrying your business around in their head.

That’s the part that fascinates me about creative work. Ideas don’t arrive because I block out two hours in my calendar and decide it’s time to be creative. They arrive because life keeps interrupting itself. An overheard conversation. An exhibition. The way afternoon light falls across concrete. Four words in a strategy document. Two completely unrelated moments collide, and suddenly there’s an idea that didn’t exist before.

It’s also why I don’t believe AI replaces branding. We use AI every day in the studio. It’s brilliant. It helps us challenge ideas, organise information and move faster. But AI doesn’t have lived experiences. It doesn’t look out of a train window at exactly the right moment while reading **meaning before movement** and quietly connect those two things together. It doesn’t collect years of observations and unexpectedly weave them into a story that’s uniquely yours.

Over the years I’ve noticed that businesses rarely lose themselves all at once. It happens gradually. Branding gets finished, then the website is handed to one person, photography to another, marketing to someone else and social media to someone else again. Every person does a good job, but no one is holding onto the original thread. Slowly, almost without anyone noticing, the business begins telling five different stories instead of one.

That’s where our work really begins. Not in designing a logo, but in protecting the original idea all the way through. Every photograph, every page, every campaign and every piece of content should still carry the same feeling that existed in those very first conversations. Because that’s the part people remember. Long after they’ve forgotten what your logo looked like, they’ll remember how your business made them feel.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between branding and a logo?

A logo is one element of your visual identity. Branding is the complete perception of your business—your positioning, messaging, personality, customer experience and visual identity working together.

Can AI create a brand?

AI can generate visual assets and ideas, but it cannot replace the strategic thinking, human observation and lived experiences that create distinctive brands.

Why should I hire a branding agency?

A branding agency helps uncover what makes your business genuinely different, then ensures that strategy flows consistently through your website, photography, marketing and content.

Is branding worth it for a small business?

Absolutely. Strong branding gives every future investment—photography, advertising, social media and web design—a clear direction, helping you avoid expensive inconsistency later.

I’m starting a business. Should I invest in branding first?

Brand strategy early in your business provides clarity before you spend money on websites, photography or marketing. It creates a foundation that everything else can build from.

Why does my business feel disconnected?

Often it’s because different suppliers are working from different ideas. Your website, photography, marketing and content should all come back to the same brand strategy.

Do I need a branding agency in Melbourne?

If you’re building a business that needs to stand out—not simply look professional—working with a local branding agency can help create a strategy that reflects your business, audience and long-term goals.

What should I look for in a branding agency?

Look beyond the portfolio. Ask how they think, how they uncover strategy, how they collaborate and whether they stay involved after the brand launches.

Do branding agencies also offer photography and creative direction?

Some do. At malone—co studio, branding, creative direction and photography work together because imagery should strengthen the strategy, not sit alongside it.

About the Author

Justine Malone is the Founder of malone—co studio, a Melbourne branding studio specialising in brand strategy, visual identity, creative direction and commercial photography. Folio here

For almost 2 decades, Justine has partnered with founders, purpose-led organisations and established businesses to build thoughtful brands that connect strategy with every customer touchpoint. Her work spans branding, photography, websites and creative direction, ensuring every part of a business feels cohesive, intentional and recognisable.