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The Best of BP&O — January 2017

Opinion by Richard Baird Posted 30 January 2017

The Best of BP&O — January 2017

January’s highlights included Design by Toko’s new brand identity for “creative supermarket” ShopAround, Bond’s work for London exhibition Heritage: A User’s Manual, and Kurppa Hosk’s logo and brand identity programme for cultural institution Konserthuset Stockholm. However, there were five projects that stood out, and have made it into BP&O’s Best Of Series.

This feature brings together some of the most unusual / thoughtful / distinctive projects published on BP&O each month for another opportunity to be seen and shared. These typically balance a strong concept with a compelling aesthetic and clear communicative intention that appropriately plays with form, colour, type and layout, as well as material, texture, image and print finish.

The Very Best Branding January 2017 – Chez Olivier by Swear Words, Australia

Chez Olivier by Swear Words, Australia

Chez Olivier is an authentic French bistro located in the centre of Greville St village, Melbourne, that intends to share its passion for French food, wine and culture with the community. It features an intimate European-style interior design of stained woods, classic furniture, photography and period advertising. It also has a unique bar of padlocks, inspired by Pont des Arts, engraved with messages of love from couples who visit the bistro, and a distinctive brand identity by Swear Words Through colour, type and image this works together a bunch of European references, expresses something of a playful and personable character and draws on the bistro’s padlock feature and its romantic associations.

See more of this project here

The Very Best Branding January 2017 – Culprit by Studio South, New Zealand

Culprit by Studio South, New Zealand

Culprit is a bar and restaurant located on Auckland’s Wyndham Street. It has a menu made from ingredients supplied by local New Zealand producers, growers and farmers, and is inspired founder’s Kyle Street & Jordan MacDonald’s travels across the United States and Europe.

Culprit has a modern interior design in a converted loft space created by Kirsty Mitchell. This is characterised by large exposed beams and brick walls, solid wood tables and strip lights suspended from the ceiling and mounted, at irregular angles, on walls.

Culprit’s brand identity, created by Studio South, is described as being dark and moody. This intended to visually articulate something of the restaurant’s menu and service, which sees diners presented with trays and trolleys, and as a way to compliment Kirsty Mitchell’s interior design.

See more of this project here

The Very Best Branding January 2017 – Printed by Somerset by Leo Burnett, Canada

Printed by Somerset by Leo Burnett, Canada

Somerset is described as being Canada’s top printer, known for its precision, attention to detail and ability to pull off complex jobs. Alongside reproduction services, Somerset, a family-run business, also provides extensive print finishing services. Inspired by this, the stacked paper of the press, and with the intention of engaging a new generation of designers, Toronto based studio Leo Burnett developed a new brand identity for Somerset that showcases its capabilities and establishes an impactful and distinctive continuity between print and website. Although this project was launched last year, after three years of development, it has recently been documented by Leo Burnett online to coincide with the launch of their new website.

See more of this project here

The Very Best Branding January 2017 – On Rye by Pentagram, United States

On Rye by Pentagram’s Michael Bierut, United States

On Rye is a fast-casual sandwich shop, with a space in the US capital of Washington DC, inspired by the Jewish deli. It has a menu of unexpected recipes that dial down the salt and bumps up the veggies, uses natural and wholesome ingredients, and gives traditional dishes a modern twist. On Rye has an interior that brings a contemporary finesse to retrospective detailing and features a brand identity designed by Pentagram partner Michael Bierut and his team. Brand identity functions on a few different levels. It works as an expression of On Rye’s wholesome menu, honours the origins of the Jewish deli in the US and adds to interior using contrast, in the weight and shape of type, the brightness of colour and the playful qualities of photography within a space of material detail and traditional fixtures and fittings.

See more of this project here

The Very Best Branding January 2017 – Superkül by Blok, Canada

Superkül by Blok, Canada

Superkül is an Canadian architectural firm with a portfolio that is described as having an understated boldness, subtlety and spacial richness, and a process that intends to find the essence of each project and remain true to this throughout design and development. Superkül has won many awards and is considered one of Canada’s most progressive architecture firms.

To celebrate their first ten years Superkül worked with Toronto-based graphic design studio Blok on a book that would both serve as a collection of work but also as a reflection of the firm’s unique philosophy and design approach. This was an exercise in discovery and a clarity of positioning which was then expressed materially through subtle paper transitions, finishes and printing techniques.

Blok follows this up with the launch of Superkül’s new brand identity next week. Where book, in its comprehensive yet singular form could be seen as the strategic component of branding, one that clarified approach and direction, visual identity is the distillation and expression of this across of variety of new assets. These included wordmark, business cards, notebooks, packaging, stationery and website which will launch 30/1.

See more of this project here