We can brand! 01
By Admin I : The only positive aspect of being angry intuitive reviewers, is that once we see good work, we go crazy about it. Yes, we can brand! Yes, we do have a good design vibe going in some design houses in Lebanon, where it is a passion, not a product that can be sold in the fish market.
The purpose of this post is highlighting good design processes mainly dealing with restaurant/nightclub branding, an aspect that is highly mistreated in Lebanon, falling in the gap of the “trend” and now the trend is the kitsch, retro looking restaurants (which actually ended 2 years ago, just for you to know) yet ‘Laziz’ and ‘Leila’ wannabes are still invading the market. So staying away from those stereotypical design behaviors, and the Rana Salam storm (man, why do we have to mention her in every design post?) here are some successful branding jobs:
MAD Beirut by ‘Paperview’
It’s just the right example to back up my “I hate minimalism” theory! You know the feeling that gets you back to where you used to actually experiment with a design, way before being hit by the pretentious ‘white space’. It’s that feeling that gets you ‘mad’ because you lost your visual ‘balls’! (the visual ones only!)
MAD Beirut works on an intricate collage forming a psychedelic visual with a hint of ‘pop’. The rich colorful patterns are very well balanced with a black and white layout for menu and cards, with chunks of black highlights insuring a good sense of navigation for the reader. Believe me i could go hours talking about this experimental branding job, working very well with the identity of the nightclub. MAD’s logo consists of a very present typographical approach, personalized lettering, also aimed to contain the pattern used in the whole brand identity.
Creating an identity for a club like this was fun to say the least. The goal was to create an identity that was visually strong, fun, a tad psychotic, and simply had a mind of its own. Graphics were made to look as though they had been seen through a kaleidoscope in a world where madness was not just accepted but celebrated.
Different materials, and printing techniques were used to help translate MAD’s visual goal, from Plastic 3D place mats to menus that look quite simple, but peek inside and you will find it has a mind of its own.
Who can compete with that?!
Secteur 75 by ‘kite’
What’s mainly impressive in the Secteur 75 brand identity is that it effortlessly answers a question of how to contextualize a branding job, make it culturally engaging, follow the city’s vibe and still look fresh and original.
To me, it’s the silkscreening inspiration taking this job to a whole other level; the injection of a clean sans serif, probably ‘Trade Gothic’, the interesting experimental feel of the photography and the different placements are what make this brand an eye candy. It makes you feel Beirut, without directly seeing it, dropping the deja-vu vintage photographs by using shots taken from around the world reflecting the rich feel of our city, off-cliches. It is when minimalism works so well that you cannot complain, it is exactly what I mean by enriching design jobs with cultural influences and dropping ‘fancy’ where there’s no room for it!
Kudos!
Secteur 75 is a pub-restaurant serving international cuisine in an upcoming neighborhood in Beirut.
The identity puts the logotype against an eclectic visual system. The imagery used is a set of collected photographs from different geographic locations. Secteur 75 portrayed through and against different photographs collected from diverse trips around the world draws upon the notion of contextual place that was triggered throughout the design process. The flexibility of the printing method (silkscreen on canvas) first used for the menu production allowed for different logo positioning and conjured a concept elaboration. This approach was carried unto the different applications through different printing methods and helped re-emphasize the original concept.
