Logo and Branding: Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin

Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin is a Norwegian grilled seafood restaurant owned by the Fursetgruppen group and located waterside in an area under redevelopment just outside the Aker Brygge region of Oslo. The restaurant’s identity, designed by Work In Progress, reflects the architectural theme ‘a play with water’, the high quality and delicate flavours of the food with fines lines, an undulating custom logo-type and symbol.

“The symbol is a play on the mathematical symbol ‘approximately equal to’.The restaurant is claiming the area by saying that Sjømagasinet, ‘S’, is approximately equal to Tjuvholmen, ‘T’.” 

- Taken from the Work In Progress website.

The logo-type is really well constructed with an underlying seafaring quality that is subtle yet distinctive. This is reduced down into a monogram device with an interesting rationale that delivers an additional depth to the identity while also functioning as a mark of quality. Each application of the symbol adds to the overal brand experience, the seared wood treatment being the highlight that neatly resolves the grilled aspects of the menu. The consistent line weight, minimal and contemporary execution has a delicate line caught sensibility that compliments the net patterns on the print work, delivering a considerate and environmentally conscious undertone that blends harmoniously with the interior space. The abundance of negative space allows the natural and uncoated architectural materials, surfaces and colour palettes implemented throughout the restaurant to communicate the quality of ingredients, their simplicity and honest presention. These fine details are juxtaposed by an accompanying typeface, that has a playful sense of grandiosity and theatre that adds a lively and fanciful character to the dinning experience appearing across menus and signage. Vivid illustrations, created by artist Jan T. Rafdal adorn the walls of the restaurant and inject a sense of energy and life with a fantastical twist that work well in conjunction with the more accurate scientific etchings across the menus and wooden boards.

This is a complex piece of identity work that intelligently balances multiple values across various touch points that appropriately utilises typography, architecture and art to deliver a complete and consistent brand experience.

Visit the BP&O Logo Gallery for a glossary of all the identities reviewed on BP&O.

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Richard Baird Richard is a British freelance designer and writer who specialises in the development of logos, branding and packaging. He has written for Brand New, Design Week and The Dieline, has featured in Computer Arts magazine and also runs the resource Design Survival. Follow:     |     Twitter     |     Facebook     |     Portfolio     |     Contact