1300SMILES Dentists

Refreshing a legacy brand to feel more human, inclusive, and recognisable

Industry: Dental Healthcare
Client: Abano Healthcare
Role: Lead Designer
Year: 2023

1300SMILES is one of the most recognised dental brands in regional Queensland. With a 30-year legacy, its name still holds weight, but its brand presence had started to fade. The visual identity felt outdated. The marketing materials were overly sterile. The imagery leaned too heavily on stock-photo smiles and didn’t reflect the diverse communities it served.

As Lead Internal Designer at Abano Healthcare, I was responsible for the creative direction across both Australian sub-brands; Maven Dental and 1300SMILES. While our agency partner originally led the 1300SMILES brand, timelines and internal priorities shifted. I stepped in to lead a fast-paced brand refresh, evolving the identity to feel more local, more lively, and more in step with everyday Australians.

The Challenge

A brand that still had trust - but no longer stood out

1300SMILES was well-known across Far North Queensland. But as the brand expanded further down the coast and into more competitive metro areas, it needed to better capture attention, and better represent the real people it served.

Internally, we recognised that the design system had become too safe and too reliant on white space. Our creative lacked the energy and relatability that made the brand feel local, not corporate.

1300SMILES billboard design welcoming new dental patients with inclusive imagery and bold, eye-catching healthcare messaging. Outdoor advertising campaign targeting everyday Australians seeking accessible dental care.
Hand holding 1300SMILES dental marketing DL flyers featuring new patient offers and inclusive lifestyle imagery, designed to improve campaign visibility and community engagement.
Abano Healthcare brand refresh presentation designed by Pronto Studio, featuring corporate profile slides, company timeline, clinician development, and data visualisation graphics

The Opportunity

Create marketing that reflects patients - not just dentists

With limited time and no external agency availability, I was tasked with delivering a brand refresh in-house. The focus wasn’t to completely overhaul the identity, but to inject life back into the materials that patients saw most: DL flyers, posters, social media, and paid ads.

My approach centred on three key shifts:

  • Bolder use of colour: Stripping back the sterile white backgrounds and letting the brand’s red and navy work harder to create visual cut-through.

  • Lifestyle-led imagery: Moving away from cosmetic, overly polished smiles in favour of natural expressions, candid moments, and real outdoor light.

  • Inclusive representation: 1300SMILES had leaned heavily into narrow demographics. This refresh introduced a broader range of faces, ages, and communities; so patients could actually see themselves reflected in the brand.

Recruitment marketing brochure for Abano Healthcare designed by Pronto Studio, showcasing clinician testimonials, brand values, and practice support information in a bold refreshed visual identity
Abano Healthcare onboarding handbook for new clinicians, designed by Pronto Studio — showcasing refreshed brand identity for dental recruitment and internal communications
Flat lay of Abano Healthcare’s onboarding brochure showcasing internal spreads and brand messaging — designed by Pronto Studio to align with the refreshed visual identity and improve employee engagement

The result

Marketing that feels more relevant, more human, and harder to ignore

With no time for a full strategic rebrand, this refresh was designed to work fast. We needed clearer, more relatable, more memorable creative, and it had to be deployable across dozens of clinics in a matter of weeks.

This was never about looking fancy. It was about showing up better for real patients.

Before vs After

The “Before” brand was developed in 2021 while I was freelancing under self-named Melissa Jaye, and was executed using strict client-provided mockups.

This new direction reflects the freedom and strategy I brought as the internal lead.

Four illustrated posters representing Abano Healthcare’s previous brand values with phrases like ‘We take the time to care’ and ‘We only bring our best’ in pastel colour blocks
Pull-up banner from Abano Healthcare’s previous branding showcasing core values: Freedom, Support, Opportunity, Guidance, and Innovation — with tagline ‘Love what we do in Australia and New Zealand.
Flat lay of Abano Healthcare’s previous brand stationery suite, including letterheads, business cards, and branded folders — featuring the old logo and brand slogan ‘Happy, healthy patients for life.
Abano Healthcare branded event materials including tote bag, booklet, and business card featuring the old logo and brand colours — designed by Pronto Studio.
Rebecca from Abano Healthcare, sharing her experience working with Pronto Studio on design projects.

Rebecca Hollingsworth | Abano Healthcare


Mel is an incredible graphic designer that I’ve had the pleasure to work with for years now. Her quality of work is above and beyond what you can get through agency or a freelance platform. She's intuitive about design and creates fun, fresh projects that people love. She can bring an energy to any brand that makes them look modern, professional and exciting. On top of that she's a lovely person through and through, always a pleasure to deal with and receptive to your ideas. I trust her with designing brands from scratch as easily as I’d trust her with campaign execution. If your brand needs help or you just want it to ‘pop’ I can’t recommend Mel highly enough.