Dante Bernard — selected work
Dante is a Sydney-based Designer and Illustrator with six years of hands-on studio experience. He leads with a holistic approach in creating brand systems and experiences for a range of clients including Woolworths, New Zealand Rugby and the Sydney Opera House. Currently a Senior Designer, creating @re.sydney.
All Blacks & Black Ferns
Sport · Film · New Zealand Rugby · 2024
Experience the power of black
The Brief
New Zealand Rugby was facing a critical inflection point. Women’s rugby was experiencing astronomical growth, but the All Blacks and Black Ferns were operating under separate brand systems. The sport’s future depended on making both teams behave with equal authority, investment and cultural weight.
The Solution
There’s more that unites these teams than separates them.
At the heart of both the All Blacks and Black Ferns is a wholly inclusive spirit for players and fans alike. Māori, Pākehā, Pasifika, European and other cultures all make up one united team. Moreover, both teams embrace an inspiring commitment to excellence in every detail.
We call this “the power of black”. Positioned at the core of the refreshed brand identity, the power of black is what the Black Ferns and All Blacks share, and what helps them stand apart.
The unified crest
One crest. Two teams. Equal weight.
A single crest adapts by context — All Blacks or Black Ferns — without ever diminishing. This design decision makes structural change visible before a word is spoken.
Speaking under one banner
Drawn from the iconic brand mark, our custom typeface gives the All Blacks and Black Ferns a shared voice, shaped by the rhythm and momentum of the game.
Giving the future of rugby a bigger stage
The brand now behaves as a statement of intent: women’s rugby is not a secondary story, it’s the future of the sport. Internally it gives the organisation permission to invest equally, while externally it signals to fans, sponsors and broadcasters that this is genuine structural change.
Role: Brand identity, Design development, Type design, Art direction
Olive
App · Identity · Woolworths · 2025
A fresh face for the future of shopping
The Brief
As Olive evolved from a chatbot into an end-to-end AI companion, she was becoming a more active part of the Woolworths shopping experience. While her capabilities were advancing, her visual identity needed a fresh start to support this bigger role.
The Solution
We reimagined Olive as a helpful and characterful companion designed to live naturally across the Woolworths ecosystem. As lead illustrator and visual designer, I redrew her from the ground up, refining her form, expressions and movement to capture more of her warmth and charm.
The resulting character system gave Olive a broader emotional range and the flexibility to respond to different moments across the customer journey. From digital interfaces to physical touchpoints, every detail was designed to make her feel familiar, expressive and unmistakably part of Woolworths.
Refining a familiar face
Through an extensive process of character exploration, Olive gradually came into focus. I refined her proportions and expressions to retain the warmth people recognised while preparing her for a broader role across the Woolworths experience.
Role: Character design, Illustration, Design development, Product design
Woolworths
Brand · Identity · Woolworths · 2025
A modern refresh for one of Australia’s most iconic brands
The Brief
Since its last rebrand, Woolworths had evolved rapidly, adapting to new technologies, services and changing ways of shopping. But the brand system had struggled to keep pace, becoming dated and fragmented as inconsistent assets were introduced across the customer experience.
The challenge was to modernise, simplify and reunify the brand without losing the warmth and familiarity that made it unmistakably Woolies.
The Solution
Guided by Fresher Ways to Live Better, we rebuilt key parts of the brand from the ground up, bringing its visual and verbal elements into one flexible system designed for modern retail.
The refreshed identity is more inclusive, contemporary and full of character, creating a consistent experience from the shop floor to the screen. Recognised by the Centre for Inclusive Design as Australia’s most visually inclusive supermarket, the new system strengthens the brand today while giving Woolworths room to evolve with changing behaviours and future innovation.
Defining our character
Woolworths’ type system was reinvented with accessibility at its heart. Glider, our bespoke primary typeface, brings greater readability and inclusivity to every interaction while retaining the familiar character of Woolworths.
Percy, our expressive script typeface, brings a more human and personal voice to the system. Used with restraint, it adds warmth, spontaneity and character, creating moments that feel unmistakably Woolworths.
Bringing the brand to life
Our relationship with Woolworths continued beyond the initial brand launch. Through an ongoing retainer, we helped guide the identity as it moved from system into practice, supporting its development, implementation and activation across Australia and New Zealand.
Working closely with internal teams and partners, we applied the brand across an evolving range of channels and customer experiences. This long-term collaboration allowed the identity to grow with the business while remaining recognisably Woolworths.
Role: Brand identity, Design development, Illustration, Type design, Experience design, Art direction
Youi
Insurance · Brand · Youi · 2025
Reframing what insurance can feel like
Context
Youi has always approached insurance differently, taking the time to understand its customers as individuals rather than policies or numbers.
As the business continued to evolve, there was an opportunity to reposition the brand around this distinctly human approach and create a stronger foundation for how Youi connects with people across Australia.
The Work
Working alongside Youi, we repositioned the brand around a simple promise: helping customers Feel Seen. This idea shaped a more human and emotionally connected brand, using real Australian stories to demonstrate that Youi is more than just another insurer.
We evolved the identity into a scalable system built for the breadth of the business, strengthening its distinctive brand assets and introducing a clearer approach to motion, storytelling and execution. This was brought together through comprehensive brand guidelines, ongoing brand guardianship and strategic support, giving Youi the tools to grow while remaining unmistakably human led.
Role: Brand identity, Design development, Art direction, Brand guardianship
Would You Rather
Event · Campaign · Melbourne Design Week · 2023
Find out where you stand this Melbourne Design Week
The Brief
Today, the concept of value is as complex as ever. Cryptocurrencies rise and fall overnight. Twitter is either worth $44 billion or zero, depending on who you ask. And protesters are claiming that, in the face of a climate emergency, the Mona Lisa is worthless.
For Melbourne Design Week, Re set out to create an event that could bring these tensions into the design industry, encouraging designers and the wider community to question what we value, why we value it and who gets to decide.
The Solution
We transformed the familiar game of Would You Rather into a live debate about value across design, culture and society. Through a provocative microsite, interactive experience and panel discussion, audiences were invited to choose between competing ideas and confront the reasoning behind their decisions.
The project culminated in a night of lively discussion, bringing experts and the broader design community together to debate, share perspectives and consider how our industry can actively shape what comes next.
No sitting on the fence
A fully designed and animated microsite brought Would You Rather to life through a custom interactive experience. Audiences were guided through a series of provocative questions, forced to make a choice and shown exactly where they stood against their peers.
Pick a side
The audience voted, the panel debated and no opinion was left untested. By the end of the night, different sides had become one room, brought together through conversation, curiosity and a little healthy disagreement.
Role: Product design, Experience design, Event design, Design development, Art direction
Sydney Opera House
Cultural · Studio · Sydney Opera House · 2023
A collection of work bringing Sydney’s most iconic stage to life
Context
The Sydney Opera House is more than a venue. It is a meeting place for artists, audiences and ideas from around the world.
During my time there, I contributed to a wide-ranging program of live events, performances and cultural experiences. As Sydney emerged from COVID, the House became a place for audiences to rediscover the energy of live culture together.
The Work
Through campaigns, programs and experiences, I helped carry the energy of the stage into every part of the Opera House brand. The work came to life across physical and digital touchpoints, extending each moment beyond the performance itself.
Key projects included Vivid LIVE, All About Women, Liminal and the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary, celebrating the House as both a global icon and a living part of Sydney.
Vivid LIVE ’22
Vivid LIVE transforms the Sydney Opera House into a home for bold contemporary music from Australia and around the world.
Working alongside Matthew Chirnside, we created a motion-first system designed to pulse, shift and come alive, giving the festival a visual rhythm of its own.
Sydney Opera House 50th Anniversary
The Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary marked five decades of extraordinary performances and shared cultural moments.
We brought the milestone to life through the campaign platform ‘Find Your Sydney Opera House’. An invitation for audiences to celebrate their own connection to the House and its place in Sydney’s story.
Liminal
Created in the space between lockdown and live performance, Liminal was an online music film series that brought eight Australian artists to the Sydney Opera House stage.
Transforming the Joan Sutherland Theatre into a cinematic performance space, the series captured a moment of transition as audiences began finding their way back to live culture. Watch it here.
Role: Campaign design, Event design, Publication design, Environmental design, Product design, Art direction