March’s highlights included Underline’s brand identity for Toronto’s Art Museum, BVD’s work for Skogsindustrierna, and Lobby’s illustrations for Stockholm restaurant Österlånggatan 17. However, there were five projects that stood out, and have made it into BP&O’s Best Of Series.

This feature brings together the most interesting, unexpected or unusual projects published on the site each month for another opportunity to be seen and shared. These typically balance a strong communicative concept with a compelling aesthetic that appropriately plays with material colour and texture, form, type, layout and print finish.

Coffee Co. by Bond, Finland

Coffee & Co. is a new cafeteria and coffee shop concept onboard the Finnish cruise ship the MS Silja Serenade. It offers freshly prepared sweet and savoury snacks, has a light interior design of tiles and wood, and features a visual identity of hand lettering and sans-serif typography created by graphic design studio Bond. This runs throughout the cafe, linking signage, packaging, interior communication and graphics.

See more of this project here

InsideSource by Mucho, United States

InsideSource is an American office space planning, design and installation business with 25 years experience and past clients that have included Facebook, Box, Shutterfly and Tango. InsideSource worked with graphic design studio Mucho to help them better express who they are and what they do through a new visual identity. This was achieved using a modular and custom type-based system that runs across tote bags, stationery, business cards, website and fleet.

See more of this project here

Tidningshuset by Pontus by Bold, Sweden

Tidningshuset by Pontus is a 1000 m² lunch restaurant, deli and bakery committed to sustainability, simplicity and quality, and was developed by famous Swedish chef and restauranteur Pontus Frithiof with the intention of challenging industry conventions.

The restaurant is on the ground floor of a building owned by Dagens Nyheter, Sweden’s largest daily newspaper, which is situated in the newspaper district of Stockholm. Inspired by this unique location, Scandinavian graphic design studio Bold created a visual identity for Tidningshuset by Pontus that references the traditional mastheads and contemporary headlines of the newspaper industry. This is visualised through type contrast, a single ink print finish and imposing signage.

See more of this project here

Playground by Character, United States

Playground is an American venture fund and start-up studio that takes a hands-on approach to mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs. It was established with the intention of removing typical operational burdens associated with product development, drawing on the first-hand experiences of its four founders, freeing entrepreneurs to focus on what makes their idea great. Playground not only funds new ventures but offers time, expertise and a space designed to foster creativity and to help ideas flourish, with both machine shops and labs furnished with the latest technologies.

Drawing on the name and the company’s belief that play is integral to the process of new product development, alongside expertise, and with a desire to avoid the visual conventions of the venture capital industry, San Francisco based studio Character developed a brand identity for Playground that mixes the conviviality of a bright red colour palette with contemporary type choices, high-quality materials and print finishes, and plenty of motion online.

Read more of this article here

Forgotten Boardwalk by Perky Bros, United States

Forgotten Boardwalk is a New Jersey microbrewery producing uniquely flavoured, year-round and seasonal craft beers. It was set up by Jamie Queli, one of the youngest female brewery owners in the US, and draws its name from the folklore of the Jersey Shore Boardwalk. This is the foundation of an extensive new brand identity, designed by Tennessee based Perky Bros, which brings to life the sideshow oddities, historic events and darker side of the boardwalk’s past through quirky and well-realised illustrative detail and storytelling component.

Read more of this article here