Eat. Drink. Design.
Founded in 2007
Anton Repponen is a Brooklyn-based designer who’s new concept project Street Signs of New York intrigued me. In place of the familiar symbols and words we might see on the signs around New York, he’s replaced them with these abstract symbols and bright colors that recontextualizes what these signs mean in their respective spaces. And honestly, it’s just kind of nice to see something so visually appealing in public like this, almost like little bursts of public art for our day-to-day lives.
My love for food-related branding is unending, and when I spotted this work from Humid Daze, I was immediately a fan. Humid Daze is a one-man design studio helmed by Sean Jones, a designer and illustrator based in Atlanta. The work he did for Deeply, a cafe and bottle shop in Florida, is clean and timeless, using elements of sans serif type paired with hand drawn elements. It’s all so crisp and clean that you can’t go wrong, and in the end, it allows the coffee to shine through clearest. I feel like everyone could use a little spot like this in their neighborhood.
The folks at Studio MPLS are always up to something cool, creating some of the most striking branding and packaging designs out there. For example, their work for River St. Joe is one of my favorite projects, ever. Most recently, they released new work for Sola Coffee Co, a coffee shop opening soon in the northern part of Minnesota.
The system they built for the brand seems pretty flexible, utilizing either three or four typefaces (and some varying weights) and a seven color palette, which they’re able to bend in a number of directions. I’m such a fan of a type-based design systems, and I think they’ve made a lot of smart choices with the contrast between each. Just enough personality and quirk to be ownable without feeling whacky (in a bad way, whacky can be great). Most importantly, in my opinion, is it’s sense of timelessness. I write about this a lot and I do think it’s a good marker of strong design, especially in regards to product packaging and identity.
Barcelona creative agency Ingrid Picanyol Studio has brought to life a new look and feel for Dalston Coffee, a small roaster located in the El Raval area of Barcelona. Borja Roselló began roasting coffee there back in 2015, was inspired by the area of Dalston in London, and in particular, the charming red brick buildings.
That’s where Picanyol and her studio come in, translating the packaging into a small buildings with different colored awnings for each style of bean, creating a small neighborhood of sorts. The result is so charming and inviting, and they look so cute sitting on the shelves together. I’m going to visit this week to pick up a building for myself.
I started following Midnight Marauder on Twitter years ago after seeing his work randomly pop up on the timeline. He’s quite enigmatic, no idea his name or what he looks like, only that he lives in Los Angeles, and that he’s a prolific designer. You would probably know him from the poster for The Worst Person in the World, or perhaps the creative he’s done for Netflix and Amazon and dozens of indie films. Other highlights include this stunning poster for Midsommar and the record for The VVitch (A24 does it right).
Recently, he created the poster for the new Rachel Lambert film, which stars Daisy Ridley, Sometimes I Think About Dying. I love how all the elements of this came together, the romantic script lettering playing in contrast to the title of the film, and the on point choice of colors for the credits at bottom. It’s a perfect balance of objects.
While roaming around Cadaqués I kept noticing some amazing type and lettering around the city that I wanted to share. There’s such a charm and beauty to the handmade quality of each. I really appreciate how many of the things I found were created out of creative spontaneity or necessity. A massive slab of rock with words written in chalk or branches painted black to spell out the name of a restaurant. It’s inspired me to pick up a brush and start working with ink again.
In my opinion, food branding is the best kind of branding. Creating a visual representation of something you eat is so fun. The folks at Young Jerks have knocked it out of the park with their work for Mark’s Off Madison, a new restaurant from acclaimed Chef Mark Strausman, formerly of Freds at Barneys and Campagna restaurants. I like that the branding feels iconic and timeless, like an old classic you can rely upon. And it’s got that air of charm and whimsy! Being fun is important and this ticks off all the boxes.
I know, you’re thinking “wow, that drinks looks delicious!” Jokes on you, it’s soap! Morrama and Two Time Elliott worked together on the branding for Kankan, a brand that makes hand and body wash. It’s great to see recyclable packaging take an interesting twist here, and overall, the design feels very contemporary without being clinical.
I love bagels so much and I really love this identity design for Mile End Bagels by U-P. It’s kind of giving me Scott Barry for Sqirl vibes from a few years back but that’s not a bad thing. It’s equal parts ordinary and funky, bridging the world’s of utilitarian while still communicating an eclectic nature.
