Bartini
a martini bar
A bar known for its dozens of large, colorful cocktails and never-ending happy hour, Bartini appealed to a younger audience. Its marketing assets needed to be updated to reflect a more youthful energy.
2017
Rebranding
#colormetini
Boasting more than 100 specialty martini variations, Bartini wasn’t about the classic dry martini in a coupe.
These martinis were big, bold, and bursting with whatever flavors one could think of. The Oatmeal Cookie Martini and the Snickertini were especially popular.
Playing on the phrase “tickle me pink”
#colormetini
Brand Story
Creative Direction, Copywriting
Background
Bartini first opened its doors in late 2003 in Portland’s Northwest District, just off the bustling NW 21st Avenue.
Known for its colorful drinks and endless happy hour, it quickly became a go-to for students, young professionals, and bar-hoppers in the neighborhood.
tagline
icons
Bartini’s martini glasses were more like goblets, full of vibrant colors and a virtual buffet of ingredients and add-ins.
The signature bedecked martini glasses inspired the icon set: the countless flavorful martinis, a drink for every palette.
Creative Direction, Design
menus
Bartini’s dated menus needed more than just an update — they needed to match the youthful energy of the bar itself.
Guests weren’t there for fine dining; they were hopping between spots, snapping photos, and enjoying Bartini’s candy-colored cocktails.
Before
Images from Yelp
After
With five pages filled with drink options, these menu books were always on the table. Their thick hard covers kept the pages relatively clean, the front page advertising Bartini's signature specials.
Printed front and back, the waterproof black food menus could be easily wiped off and shared between guests.
The black and white menus focused the attention on the vibrant drinks likely already on the table.
Creative Direction, Design, Photography
Images from Yelp
icons
Taking cues from Swiss Design, black and white photography served as effective at-a-glance communication for objectivity and clarity.
Creative Direction, Design
icons
Taking cues from Swiss Design, black and white photography served as effective at-a-glance communication for objectivity and clarity.
Creative Direction, Design
After
A crisp black-and-white menu pushed the bar’s rainbow-colored cocktails into the spotlight. Often left open on tables, the menus frequently appeared in snapshots alongside the bright drinks, making the cocktails the true focus of every shot.
To hold up to the bar’s fast pace, the menus were printed on waterproof paper (not laminated), custom-sized to fit Bartini’s existing bar books, and durable enough to be wiped down countless times a night.
Creative Direction, Design
Images from Yelp
After
A crisp black-and-white menu pushed the bar’s rainbow-colored cocktails into the spotlight. Often left open on tables, the menus frequently appeared in snapshots alongside the bright drinks, making the cocktails the true focus of every shot.
To hold up to the bar’s fast pace, the menus were printed on waterproof paper (not laminated), custom-sized to fit Bartini’s existing bar books, and durable enough to be wiped down countless times a night.
Creative Direction, Design
icons
Taking cues from Swiss Design, black and white photography served as effective at-a-glance communication for objectivity and clarity.
Creative Direction, Design
Alphabet
In need of a strong accessory headline font, a pixel-based character set seemed the logical choice.
The strong square shapes complement the logo system in a way that Roboto Mono, even bold, could not, as illustrated in the Release Notes.
Creative Direction, Design
Downloads
With software updates constantly underway, SpiderOak needed a way to keep Release Notes and downloadable versions current.
The website concept anticipated a workflow using the Hugo static site generator and collaborative development between Marketing and DevOps to enable continuous updates.
Creative Direction, Design
Release Notes
With software updates constantly underway, SpiderOak needed a way to keep Release Notes and downloadable versions current.
The website concept anticipated a workflow using the Hugo static site generator and collaborative development between Marketing and DevOps to enable continuous updates.
Creative Direction, Design
Whitepapers
Blockchain is no easy concept to explain, so SpiderOak’s marketing materials needed to be as digestible as possible.
Strongly gridded layouts, inspired by the International Typographic Style, helped to break content up into manageable blocks, improving comprehension, building trust, and providing yet another visual metaphor for the underlying blockchain technology.
Creative Direction, Design
Effective grid systems also enabled consistent and flexible templates across print and web alike. Whitepaper covers were inspired by the timeless posters of Swiss Design.