Home-grown Brisbane art brand Mont Marte is set to release its new brand identity at Messe Frankurt from 26 to 29 January.

After spending months working closely with Hulsbosch, the branding giant that has been transforming Australian and global businesses for more than 35 years (including Qantas, Virgin and Woolworths), Mont Marte is ready to take the next step on the global stage. A well-known name in its own right, Mont Marte attracted the creative genius of the founder of Hulsbosch, Hans Hulsbosch (the man behind the Qantas kangaroo), with its unique art philosophy, quirky story and its success in an assortment of unusual retail outlets around Australia.

Mont Marte was created, almost by accident, back in 2003. The founders of the brand, Bob and Carol Kent, who were well-known in the discount variety market, used framed artist’s canvases to fill up excess space in containers of decorative garden river stones they brought into Australia. To their amazement, the canvases sold better in discount variety stores than any of the other hardware and garden products they imported. After doing some research, and finding that there was a huge gap in the market for affordable art supplies, Bob and Carol decided to create and distribute an art range. They had been to Montmartre in Paris a number of times and fell in love with the creative spirit of the village. They decided an Australianised version should become the brand name of the art supplies range. And so, Mont Marte was born.

General Manager of Mont Marte International and son of founders Bob and Carol Kent Cheyne Kent said, “with one in five people in Australia interested in some form of art, we’ve grown from a backyard Brisbane business to supplying Mont Marte products to over 75 countries around the world. We believe that everyone should have the ability to explore their creativity – no matter what they do or where they come from. Traditionally art has been expensive and reserved for the elite few, but Mont Marte has been a driving force in creating a comprehensive range of affordable art materials in locations that just about anyone can access.

“We want to make art easier to create, to encourage everyone to follow their imagination. And to simply have a great time expressing themselves. We’ve always championed free art education through our YouTube lessons and are excited to take the business to the next level with a brand-new look and feel”.

The unveiling of the new brand identity, including revamped logo and new product ranges designed for people who are at different stages of their creative journeys, is just another step in Mont Marte’s mission to inspire people from all walks of life around the world to say ‘I can create’.

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