Maven Dental
A bold new era for dental marketing.
Industry: Healthcare Marketing
Client: Maven Dental (Abano Healthcare)
Role: In-house Brand & Creative Lead
Maven Dental wasn’t just due for a rebrand - it needed a scalable marketing system that could compete in a crowded market. For years, dental marketing had been stuck in sterile, clinical visuals that failed to connect emotionally with patients. The challenge was clear: create a bold, confident identity that would cut through nationally, while giving the marketing team a toolkit they could deploy at speed and scale.
As In-house Brand & Creative Lead at Abano Healthcare, I led the refresh from strategy through execution; building a campaign system that gave Maven’s marketing team clarity, speed, and impact. What started as a visual uplift evolved into a repeatable design system rolled out across 100+ practices, powering everything from social and digital ads to clinic signage, websites, and print campaigns.
The Opportunity
Maven Dental, one of Australia’s largest dental networks, faced a critical brand challenge: strong recognition but weak execution. Campaigns looked fragmented, hard to brief, and inconsistent across 100+ clinics. In a competitive market, that lack of clarity risked eroding both awareness and trust.
The goal wasn’t just a cosmetic refresh; it was to build a scalable design system that empowered Maven’s national marketing team to deliver consistent, high-impact campaigns at speed.
A Strategic Colour System
At the heart of the refresh was a tiered colour system. Each service line received its own palette; a simple but powerful shift that made campaigns instantly recognisable, easier to brief, and scalable across every channel. From bold New Patient Offers to calming Whitening promotions, each tier had its own distinct playbook yet aligned seamlessly under one master brand.
New Patient Offer
Teal + Yellow
→ Fresh, modern, energetic
Teal was Maven’s existing hero colour — instantly associated with trust and care. By pairing it with a vibrant yellow, we created a sun-like effect that radiates energy and optimism. From billboards to newspaper ads, this pairing stood out from a distance, capturing attention and driving higher recall for new patient campaigns.
Cosmetic & Veneers
Coral + Yellow
→ Beauty-led, youth-focused, slightly fashion
A palette designed to feel aspirational, modern, and image-driven - appealing to a younger audience motivated by aesthetics.
Implants
Purple + Teal
→ Mature, confident, trustworthy
Balancing authority with familiarity, this palette helped position implants as a confident, reliable solution for long-term dental care.
Teeth Whitening
Teal + Light Blue
→ Clean, calming, ideal for wedding expos
A softer, more serene pairing designed to resonate with patients seeking a brighter smile, particularly in lifestyle-driven contexts like weddings.
Aligners
Yellow + Teal
→ Bold, clean, attention-grabbing
High-contrast, contemporary, and visually sharp - ideal for reaching audiences interested in quick, noticeable transformations.
Kids Dental
Light Blue + Rainbow Accents
→ Playful, fun, welcoming
A family-friendly palette that communicates inclusivity, fun, and comfort - making dental care approachable for children and their parents.
Campaigns in Action
Each tier was supported by its own campaign playbook: clear, repeatable design rules that made every campaign visually distinct yet strategically aligned under one brand.
The new system came to life across national campaigns; from outdoor billboards and clinic posters to social media and digital activations.
Each execution carried its own distinct palette, but together they built a unified brand presence that patients could spot instantly, whether they saw it in a local paper, on a flyer, or in their Instagram feed.
Lean Resourcing, Scalable Results
What made the impact even more significant was the scale of delivery on a lean budget. With just two freelancers contributing 20 hours a week and ~43 monthly agency hours (of which only ~10 supported Maven Dental), we built a design system that is still in use today, more than a year after my departure.
By focusing on systems, not one-off assets, the work gave Maven’s marketing team a repeatable framework they could roll out confidently across 100+ practices.
The Impact
The refreshed brand system gave Maven Dental’s marketing team the clarity, tools, and scalability they needed to compete and grow. The results spoke for themselves:
Increased Brand Awareness: Campaigns became instantly recognisable at a national level — cutting through both outdoor and digital environments.
Operational Efficiency: Reduced briefing errors and faster campaign turnaround across multiple service lines.
Improved Campaign Recall: High-contrast, strategically chosen palettes made it easier for patients to connect specific offers with services.
Foundation for Growth: A robust, repeatable system enabled the team to roll out campaigns across 100+ clinics without diluting brand equity.
Early data shows stronger conversion on New Patient Offers compared to five years ago, with the teal + yellow palette playing a key role in visibility and awareness.
Final Word
Design isn’t decoration — it’s a business tool. By aligning brand and marketing under one scalable system, Maven Dental gained a platform for consistency, clarity, and growth. This refresh proved that with the right framework, design can deliver long-term ROI, not just short-term campaigns.
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.