We can brand! 02

We can brand! 02

By Admin I : We’re back again with two new branding jobs to prove that we do have interesting design approaches that might be very very different in the core, but each reflecting one aspect of the city’s dynamic flow.

Cafe Hamra by Wondereight:

Well, as you already know, I’m not a fan of pop, punk, grunge and all what follows, but Cafe Hamra was able to emerge from a retrospective perspective on Hamra and project it onto the ‘now’ of the city. A grungy identity based on stencils, photography and an urban feel with an industrial edge.

Slab serif typefaces going trendy again, were brilliantly used to reinforce the concept while the whole work looks well balanced between a heavy visual treatment and a minimal type approach mainly found in the collaterals.

…A map of famous old cafés and theaters was designed and hand-painted on the ceiling. Stencils, retro signs, patterns, old photos and drawings were created to decorate the walls of the restaurant.

Different means were used to convey the contrast between old and new in the branding phase. A retro pattern was created for the plates, using the letters of the word Hamra. Old, black and white photos were mixed with colorful stencils to give out a nostalgic, yet urban feel.

The cafe Hamra identity proves my theory (when a diva steals theories) that ‘more is more’ especially that we can have numerous colors, stencils, photos in black and white and in high saturation and still prove successful in depicting the true essence of the city’s nostalgia.

Rococo by Paperview:

You already know those guys are wicked! After featuring the MAD Beirut identity in the last branding post, Rococo was the ‘it’ branding job to find itself present here adding a contrasting edge.

Based on, umm, the Rococo movement (duh) – also referred to as “Late Baroque”, is an 18th-century artistic movement and style -The identity screams wit and bluntness, and yes you know as well how much we love a designer with enough balls (figurative! gawd, your dirty little minds!).

The best way to describe rococo, is probably “Pimped up vintage”.
Great rococo painters from Jean-Honoré Fragonard, to Jean-Antoine Watteau were used as the base of all designs, modern day / high-tech items were photo edited and placed into scenarios.

Decadent yet not pretentious, witty yet not vulgar, were our main goals.When we saw the interior design, we knew rococo would be the perfect name.

A blend of humor, classicism and cynicism was the focal point of this approach; the logotype also reflects the place’s spirit in a subtle way, leaving room for a visual explosion coming in the place-mats and the set of ads bringing back the Rococo era to the modern lifestyle, with the help of copywriting and a well done photo-montage.
Two identities having nothing in common but the goal of adding a modern twist to a historical era, each with an eye, with an experimental approach to design without looking by any means identical.

We can brand!

Cheers!