Through our brand workshop, we were able to bring clarity to MFA by helping establish their brand vision and understand their greater mission. It was evident that MFA was driven by education, since the founder’s own experience stems from being a school teacher prior to being a fitness coach. We wanted the new brand identity to be reflective of this, as well as his mission for positive change through making fitness accessible for all bodies and abilities. It was clear from the beginning that David McDermott was fuelled through learning as he was a believer and follower of the student mentality himself, and therefore we captured this through the academy-inspired badge logo mark.

Within the mark includes a multitude of what encompasses MFA; the ‘M’ for McDermott, weighted plates to represent strength & weight training, the three bars translating to their three core pillars: accessibility, community, credibility, and lastly, the barbell that links those all together.

After an extensive amount of industry research, it was clear from what was currently present within the fitness industry that there was a large presence of colour combinations that do not appeal to the approachability that MFA want to communicate. Our solution was a gradient comprised of a sliding scale of cool tones (navy/purple) to a vivid accent (hot pink). This fresh and contrasting palette stands out against competitors with ease, and when applied across all collateral, makes for an engaging and eye-catching identity.

Mathias reached out for our assistance with developing a brand identity for his new venture, with a core focus on his multi-level expertise.

We began the process with a workshop to obtain a deeper understanding of Mathias’s key goals and what he wanted to achieve from the brand. Through this exercise we found the intricacies of the brewing process mirrored the detailed knowledge Mathias possessed – something he was incredibly passionate about highlighting within the brand.

The result was the creation of a brand that focussed on every level of the brewing process, which had a clear mission to enhance efficiency through both business and environmental perspectives. This led to the creation of a highly considered corporate identity with a simplistic logo mark that highlighted the story of beer brewing while also injecting the key attributes of Mathias himself. The mark worked to reflect the various stages of the brewing process as well as historical methods used, all whilst presenting Mathias’ extensive knowledge on the subject.

The accompanying palette was developed to reflect the key components used within the brewing process. Blue tones were used to represent the water, whilst the beige and cream hues mirror the malt and barley.

A complimentary brand pattern was created based on the brand palette, mirroring the shapes and forms of the logo mark while also providing a strong template to produce various visual collateral ensuring a cohesive brand aesthetic.

Working with the team we first undertook a workshop session to get a stronger sense of who they were and where they saw themselves moving forward. The workshop proved invaluable in offering a clear understanding of the brands strengths and opportunities, along with a deeper knowledge of where they wanted to position themselves within the market.

Through discussions to better understand the origin of the company name we found it lacked a clear rationale and therefore presented an opportunity to develop a definitive brand ethos that could be adopted moving forward, as well as a unique concept we could weave throughout the revised brand.

A3M evolved to represent “A 3 Mentality” – an attitude formed from their very DNA. This new ethos was built from the knowledge and expertise gained throughout their rich past. It flows in to their present, with how they apply focus and attention to detail within every project, and it’s how they plan for their future, with a constant investment in new technology and capabilities. ‘A 3 Mentality’ is what makes A3M different, it’s a way of life that can be used to approach every project and it’s what sets them apart from their competitors.

We embraced this new philosophy when developing the brands new look and feel. ‘3’ was the key influence that drove the design, leading to the contemporary logomark. The combined type utilises triangular forms while the three featured within the negative space – representative of a stitch – brings the whole brand together.

The theme was continued throughout every part of the brand. The art direction features custom brand patterns, which were produced by merging various palettes of three core paints, resulting in a unique set of visuals that mirror the nature of the organisation while also subtly reflecting their company’s newly adopted ideology.

The application of the brand embraces clean and confident layouts that allows the imagery and project work to take centre stage. The charcoal black hue from the brand palette offers a successfully contrasting base layer, which is used to compliment the new, modern direction of A3M, while the striking paint patterns inject energy, excitement and a little edge.

The completed brand resulted in a range of flexible application options that can now be put to work across all touchpoints from packaging, signage, social content, website design, merchandise, and stationary.

When we were approached to work on the brand development for Motcombs, including the launch of their new site in St John’s Wood, and their existing site located in Belgravia, we sounded our ‘exceedingly large trumpet for winners’ in the office and got stuck in. This is just the sort of project we love.

It’s been a real joy to work on this from start to finish with the team at Motcombs. We assessed the existing identity and developed the branding to really elevate and represent the venues and purpose by working on a clear strategy, producing a thorough branding document that included brand assets, colour palette and typography, as well as creating hand-drawn illustrations for each of the venues, which we have then animated to bring to character to life within the bustling London scenes.

The brand has a very sophisticated and familiar approach, encouraging their guests to become regulars and eventually friends. As you venture through the Dickensian windows, you will unearth a historic restaurant where the walls and eclectic works of art tell a story of many a fond and merry occasion, where young and old, actors and politicians, all come together and celebrate each other’s company. A neighbourhood favourite. There is a place at Motcombs for everyone. We designed the branding to reflect this across all assets.

As with The Rabbit Hole, this project started with visits and workshops with the owners to understand their new vision for Tango, implementing our standard 3-point process, we were able to craft a new brand foundation. The result was to establish Tango as a ‘Social Bar and Kitchen’, allowing guests to “kindle conversations over Latin American inspired flavours that dance on the palate”.

For this branding update, we explored various themes relating to the Tango dance, the movements, and origins, plus, wider Latin American values and historic design. The logo itself had a minor refresh, but we were able to introduce a range of brand collateral and elements such as patterns, textures, colour, and iconography with influences from our research. One key element was a mural which fuses elements of Durham, such as the Elvet Bridge and connections to the area’s history with the smiley face icon as a pop of bright colour, into one piece of art. The mural was used in relocation advertising and you’ll now see it across a selection of menus.

We introduced the smiley face graphic icon as a key part of the brand which can be found on the mural, signage and across the website and menus. It’s all about bringing a cheeky splash of fun elements to the branding that represents one of the brand values.

We also redesigned the website to bring in the new branding, while re-working the user experience for easier access to see key information about Tango, such as the menus and booking platform.

The result creates a bigger, better Tango with respect to its roots and allows for a wider scope of offerings and audience, where guests can come together in the heart of Durham to share good times and great food.

We were very excited to work with a local brand which was already established and loved in the area. Following initial visits to the site, discussions, and workshops with the owners, we got to understand their vision and the market we were targeting. We implemented our 3-point process. With research into the area, food, and culture, we created a story that encompassed the values and proposition of the brand. The results were ‘Explore time-honoured Cantonese and fusion dishes, uncovering new flavours that stir your senses.’

With further research into the culture of the rabbit name we discovered the rabbit has a lot of significant meanings and interpretations – The traditional Chinese character used for rabbit is a pictographic character of the wild rabbit with long ears and a short tail. The rabbit also symbolises the moon. According to ancient legend, Chang’e Flying to the Moon where Chang’e drank the elixir of life and flew to the moon with a white rabbit in her arms, therefore it was believed the spot on the moon to be the rabbit. The moon rabbit is seen pounding the elixir of life in a pestle and mortar.

We used this reference to create the new logo and we also created a character mascot of the rabbit as an illustration so that we could show him come to life in animation –  grinding the pestle and mortar, lifting noodles from a bowl with chopsticks, sipping a martini, playing a saxophone – bringing him to life on the website and as social media assets that we created as part of the branding work to show all the offerings that the venue includes.

The website and items such as menus include textures and style references to Cantonese life and art, Chinese handscrolls and seals, and the logo created is styled as in Chinese culture, families and artists would use signature stamps to sign off important documents and pieces of artworks, so we created a unique stamp as The Rabbit Hole logo.

Colours and typefaces used all have a reason whether they relate to tradition, add richness or a splash of modern contrast.

Stirring the senses is at the heart of the story and sums up the experience at The Rabbit Hole as a journey of exploration.