01. Ethos
Insight & Artistry, crafted by the same hands.
Busch Studios is an independent creative consultancy led by Joshua Busch, delivering brand, campaign, web and strategic work from Queenstown to all over the world.
02. Featured Work
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03. The Practice
Research
Facts come before recommendations.
Strategy
Facts, shaped into a plan worth following.
Design
A plan, crafted into a story by hand, with care.
04. About Joshua
“There's something about the assurance of research and the creativity of design that I love piecing together like a puzzle.”
01. Selected Work
Where insight & artistry collide
Fig. A: Brand Development
A visual identity built for the water.
Fig. B: Social Media Strategy
A social strategy that reached thousands.
coming soon
Something's brewing here
Organisation
Spirit of Adventure Trust
Category
Brand Development, Visual Identity
Role
In-house, Full-time
Delivered
July 2025
01. The Brief
“To empower young New Zealanders to reach their full potential through the challenge of the sea.”
Spirit of Adventure Trust runs multi-day sail-training voyages for young New Zealanders. The brand had gone stale, reading as dated to the young people it needed to reach and to anyone forming a first impression of the charity from the outside.
I revitalised the identity, carrying forward what still worked and rebuilding what didn't: logo lockups, colour, type, a hand-drawn icon set cut in the same style as the original mark, and a photography direction built around what a voyage actually looks and feels like. It's documented properly, so it holds together whether it's on a 21-page guideline or a single Instagram tile.
I led it end to end in-house at SOAT, full-time, before Busch Studios existed.
The identity has been adopted across the Trust's communications since, from the website through to on-water signage, replacing a system that no longer matched who SOAT was reaching.
02. Identity System
Personality
01
Sincerity
Honest and down to earth, the same trust SOAT asks parents to place in it.
02
Excitement
The energy of a voyage, built into how the brand looks and speaks.
03
Ruggedness
Built to survive salt water, not just a screen.
Colour
Primary
Sailor Navy
#292F51
Citrus Orange
#D8852A
Sail White
#F6F5EE
Secondary
Typography
Primary / Display
Gibson
Headings & commercial titling
Secondary / Body
Ciutadella
Body & supporting text
Iconography
Hand-cut to match the lino-print grain of the original logo, at the actual size they ship at, not scaled down from something bigger.
Full set
- Sail Ship
- Star
- Koru
- Sparrow
- Ocean
- Mountains
- Growth
03. System & Application
Hand-Drawn Icon Set
Every icon was hand-cut to match the grain of the original logo, not redrawn clean in Illustrator and called close enough. That same rough, considered line runs from a 21-page guideline down to a single Instagram tile.
Bilingual Lockup
A primary lockup built to hold its own in both English and Māori, used everywhere from formal documents to a single social post.
Photography Direction
Trainee-led and always moving, so the imagery feels like being on the water, not just looking at it.
Original logo
Hand-drawn by Dick Frizzell
Deliverable
21-page brand guideline, July 2025
01. How I Work
How I work.
Good work starts with the right questions, not just good instincts. But asking the right questions is only half the job. I care just as much about how something looks, feels, and lands once it's made. Every engagement moves through the same three steps, whichever discipline the brief calls for. The aim isn't more or most; it's work someone actually feels something for.
02. The Practice
Research
Facts come before recommendations.
I start by learning how the audience actually sees the brand, through conversations, the numbers, and a close look at what everyone else is doing. Nothing gets recommended until I can point to why it holds up. The aim is a clear picture of where things really stand before any decision is made.
Strategy
Facts, shaped into a plan worth following.
With the facts in hand, I work out what the brand should say and who it most needs to reach. This is where the positioning, the message, and the plan for each channel get decided. Every choice traces back to something found earlier, so the direction is deliberate rather than guessed.
Design
A plan, crafted into a story by hand, with care.
Then I build the thing people actually see: the identity, the layouts, the posts, the film. This is where care shows, in the weight of a line, the pace of an edit, the exact shade of a colour. Nothing generic makes it through. This is the point where the work becomes something you can hold, watch, or scroll.
03. Areas of expertise
- Brand Strategy
- Creative Direction
- Design Systems
- Marketing Strategy
- Social Media Strategy
- Videography
- Content Creation
- Research & Insights
- Visual Identity
- Positioning
01. About
One person.
Start to finish.
Busch Studios is me - Josh, working out of Queenstown. I handle brand development, campaign strategy, web design, and storytelling for clients who want research and craft to come from the same source, rather than split between a strategist and separate creative team. I dedicate real time to understanding who I'm working with before any design begins, staying with the work through to final execution, rather than handing it off once the strategy is set.One point of contact. One line of thinking, start to finish.
Approach
Every recommendation earns its place, and every outcome is crafted with care.
Scope
With a wide range of experience through many different industries, every project is welcomed in all shapes and sizes.
Based
Queenstown, New Zealand, working with clients everywhere.
01. Get in Touch
Have a project in mind?
Open to new projects from October onwards, let's get chatting!