The Rec Room
The Rec Room isn’t your typical gym. As a 24/7 training space with a focus on total wellbeing — physical, emotional, spiritual, and social — their goal is to break down barriers and build people up. The brand needed to reflect that philosophy: inclusive, bold, open, and full of energy.
I was brought in to shape the visual identity and full brand experience for The Rec Room — a gym that puts people, not performance, at the centre. My role spanned strategy, identity design, creative direction, and rollout across all touchpoints. Working closely with the founders, we built a brand grounded in the Māori philosophy of hauora — a holistic model of wellbeing unique to Aotearoa — and translated that into a design system that felt contemporary, welcoming, and meaningful.
Logo Concept
The Rec Room logo is built around a bold, contemporary wordmark housed within a structured frame — a visual representation of the “four walls” of hauora. These four walls are core to the Rec Room’s kaupapa and served as the foundation for the identity.
A dynamic line device was developed to extend the identity into a broader visual system. Made up of four parallel lines, this motif refers back to the four walls of hauora while suggesting movement, rhythm, and continuity. It became a flexible brand element, appearing across signage, apparel, digital assets, and promotional material.
Designing With Purpose
The identity is underpinned by the four walls of wellbeing: physical, spiritual, mental & emotional, and social. This concept became a guiding framework — influencing everything from the spatial signage system to tone of voice, colour palette, and photography. I introduced subtle Māori design influences to honour the brand’s kaupapa without falling into visual cliché, creating a contemporary aesthetic that feels distinctly local but universally accessible.
Full Rollout
The brand was brought to life across every touchpoint. I designed the visual identity and logo system, wrote and structured the brand story for the website, and directed the creative across both digital and physical spaces. This included apparel, social media assets, promotional material, and a complete signage system for both the exterior and interior of the gym. I also art directed the brand photography and videography, ensuring a consistent, people-first tone that matched the brand’s values and visual language.
