When the clients are a Scandinavian woman and a Frenchman, with many likes ranging from minimalist to Art Nouveau, I was faced with finding a balance between the two. Additionally, Bohemien is a Hifi bar; significant investment has gone into making this the third of its kind in NYC, so the idea of sound was important too. Tarek, Patricia and I love to collaborate over a Pinterest board in order to hone in on ideas, colors and look-and-feel. For visual photo-sensitive individuals, this method works better than words. By narrowing down pins, we arrived at a direction, which I could then take off with in Illustrator. Some key elements that evolved are the pill shape, derived from Alfon Mucha posters and the on-site horse-shoe shaped bar, the round stylized speakers symmetrically placed on each end, and the art nouveau elements that have been parsed by Scandinavian modernism.
At the onset of a project, I often share a secret Pinterest board with my clients. Here, we pin wildly at first, then we discuss and narrow down. Above is the narrowed down result. The purpose of this is to get on the same page visually, and to discover each others' sense of taste. This way, I can better cater to and advice my clients.
The logo is always completely worked out in black and white first, because it guarantees that it will look at least this good wherever it goes.
Then, color is explored and applied. This is a 'brassy gold' that align well with the interior of the Bohemien, where cognac colors warm up the space.
The logo is prominent on the entrance door, while the social icon is utilized on the smaller vertical windows. The awning takes custom typography, based on the font Norwalk.
