About us

I want to express my profound gratitude to Vanessa and the exceptional team at SML Design who played a vital role in shaping the Aminata Maternal Foundation. Our collaboration started back in 2014 when the vision of establishing a not-for-profit organisation was just a dream. Vanessa’s commitment and expertise were instrumental in crafting the identity of the foundation – from logo and letterhead to wireframe and website.

What touched me deeply was Vanessa’s selfless dedication, to providing these services pro bono. She treated us with the same level of professionalism and enthusiasm as their paying clients. Vanessa’s belief in our mission was the driving force behind her masterpiece. Her creativity and talent were further validated when the Aminata Maternal Foundation’s logo earned a silver award at the Graphis Competition in 2015.

I am profoundly grateful for everything Vanessa and SML Design have done for us. The achievements we celebrate today wouldn’t have been possible without their support and compassion. Our journey has been incredible and meaningful, and it’s people like Vanessa and the entire SML Design team who have made it even more extraordinary. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I was introduced to Vanessa through our designer, and after meeting Vanessa was so excited to work with her. Vanessa and SML created Bar M into a timeless sophisticated brand that we are truly proud of. Her creativity and insight, attention to detail made the process simple and streamlined. From the very beginning I was filled with confidence and knew that our collaboration was going to be successful. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Vanessa and SML.

We have worked with SML Design since 2007 when we launched Aquabelle Apartments, luxury holiday accommodation on the Mornington Peninsula. We knew what we wanted to say but did not quite know how to say it. SML guided us in identifying our target audience and then provided the identity, tone of voice, and professional yet relaxed look to attract them – across all levels of communication. We appreciate their continuous input regards website, signage, and guest comms. Dealing with Vanessa and her team makes the marketing side of my business a breeze. Responsive always with deeply thought and considered solutions to every need we have.

SML Design completed a complete rebrand of Nutech Paint for our 50th business anniversary in 2022. This included our logo, identity marks, labels and product look and feel.
The project was completed on time and within budget and our logo was awarded a Gold Medal for Brand Identity at the Graphis 2023 awards.
Our customers love our new identity which reflects the growth of our business over the past 50 years, while still retaining important elements of our visual heritage. Our new logo stands out from our main competitors and reflects our growing status nationally and internationally in the paint and protective coatings market.
I highly recommend Vanessa and her team at SML Design for any brand, digital identity and web sites projects that need bespoke personalised solutions that will help you stand out in a crowded marketplace.

We engaged SML to brand our enterprise and to develop a compelling new website that would resonate with LUCY’s audience and partners. 

Even with our high expectations, we never imagined our brand coming to life in the vibrant, innovative and dynamic way that Vanessa and her team were able to accomplish. SML captured perfectly the style, tone and uniqueness of LUCY’s mission and content, giving the site a truly differentiated and stunning look and feel. 

 A designer who can create an authentic, standout and strategically “on brand” production is rare indeed. Vanessa and her team are brilliant and surpassed our expectations on every measure.

Vanessa designed our identity 20 years ago when we launched our business.  We were thrilled with it then and it has stood the test of time. It remains as relevant today as it was at its inception. A testament to Vanessa’s ability to interpret and capture what we wanted to express, and to design something with the sophistication that ensures timelessness.  Over the past 20 years we have developed a strong partnership. Vanessa has continued to evolve our branding and web design, always delivering exceptional ideas and design. Vanessa and her team are incredibly talented, responsive and wonderful to work with. Vanessa truly is a world class Creative Leader. 

“Ensemble Offspring can’t recommend SML highly enough! They are the perfect combination of quality design and programming standards as well as extremely  friendly and helpful personal service. Vanessa, Gerson and Patrick are a total pleasure to deal with and really are a dream team when it comes to rebranding and website design and building. SML websites are both functional, unique and beautiful and we are extremely happy with the final result they created for Ensemble Offspring.”

“Visit Victoria appointed SML Design for a brand refresh for the White Night Project. The scope of works included a redesign of all elements of White Night Melbourne and three regional events in Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong. SML has shown a proactive and professional approach in their design work with the Visit Victoria marketing team and the curatorial team David Atkins Enterprises. We have had very positive feedback on the design elements of the project. The project works across multiple stakeholders and requires a level of professionalism with coordinating the various competing needs. We wish SML every success in their future work.”

“SML Design produced thoughtful and impactful work for me in very tight timeframes. SML was able to understand the brief and translate that into a creative campaign that reflected my brand and values and ambitions. Their ability to produce quality work within deadlines demonstrates their listening skills and superior ability to interpret a client’s brief into an effective creative campaign. SML has the capability and capacity to undertake challenging projects and deliver quality work that uniquely reflects the client’s outcomes.  I would not hesitate to recommend SML.”

Vanessa has the quintessential eye for detailed design producing flawless and meaningful work. She is unrelenting and tenacious in her quest for consistency and continually offers clients incredible value.

“Dedicated. Efficient. Visionary. Attentive. Creative. Collaborative. Thoughtful. Accomplished. Organised. Prepared – all words to describe the immensely talented Vanessa Ryan. Vanessa brought innovative & new ways of thinking to the world of Nike Pacific Public Relations & Marketing. I don’t think I have worked with anyone in the industry that is so motivated and driven. I would highly recommend, hire or work with Vanessa again in a heartbeat.”

I have had the honour and privilege of working with brand experts over many years and through various iterations and can tell you that, in my experience, none are better than Vanessa and her team. She may have started SML as small, medium and large, but the work and results I have witnessed first hand certainly redefine her as Standout Meaningful and Loved…don’t just take my word for it, ask her clients!

SML designed the new RBD website and identity and have truly lived up to their mantra – Standout, Meaningful, Loved. We initially were not going to change the existing identity but agreed with the sml team that strategically it made sense to refresh it. The new logo cleverly embodies the heritage of the former while creating a striking, powerful mark for the future. The use of the letter shapes as project images is a perfect device. The website design is dynamic, functional and downright sexy. Vanessa and the team are clever, endlessly inventive and a pleasure to work with.

SML recently worked on the re-branding our or Law firm, and Vanessa and her team worked tirelessly to pride us with a new brand we can be proud of. We especially appreciate the time taken to understand and “get” what Solubility is all about and to represent our brand authentically but with creative flair. Working with Vanessa and her team has been an absolute pleasure, we were constantly impressed with their vision, creativity, problem-solving, and energy. Nothing we threw at them was ever a problem and they were always responsive and accommodating and approached our project with enthusiasm and skill. The SML team provided us with a full branding and digital offering, not only re-inventing our brand, but delivering a slick and impressive website which we are incredibly proud of and also helping us to organise a very successful launch event. Any expectations we had were exceeded and we would not hesitate to highly recommend Vanessa and SML.