Tango Durham Branding
Branding
- Branding Strategy
- Operational items and signage
- Website design and creation
- Menu redesign
Tango is a burger-based restaurant in Durham, classed as local legends for their burgers within the area. Tango is our second project from the Zen Group’s portfolio, and we were tasked to revamp Tango as they were moving venue location within Durham and wished to build upon their current brand, focussing on their established customer but also attracting new markets whilst being able to grow the overall expanding offering.
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.
The Rabbit Hole Branding
Branding
- Branding Strategy
- Operational items and signage
- Website design and creation
- Brand social assets
The Rabbit Hole is a Cantonese Fusion Restaurant in the heart of Durham.
The concept is within the Zen Group’s portfolio. We were chosen to work on a complete revamp of the brand to clearly communicate their offering, feel approachable yet luxurious, and to create a cohesive brand language across all of a guest’s touchpoints.
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.
Robuchon Brand Strategy
Branding
- Brand Strategy
- Research and Development
- Brand Support
There are moments that inspire you and stay with you.
We recently had one of those moments working behind the scenes with the team at Joël Robuchon International on some of their brand strategies. Whilst we can’t show the work for confidentiality reasons, we must say it was a pleasure and a privilege as part of our research to speak one-on-one with key members of the team who have been part of the business for so many years and worked with Joël Robuchon himself helping him to create his vision. And what a vision that was.
For those who may not be aware, he was a pioneer in the hospitality and restaurant world. He was the creator of counter dining, open kitchens and fusion – all part of the norm today but revolutionary when he first introduced them, and he has the most Michelin stars to this day.
His legend lives on in the people he worked with and the passion they speak with about their learnings and time with him and their love for the brand.
As designers and creatives with a love for the hospitality world, it was such a joy to hear the stories that mean so much to them. We had some very memorable conversations.
This is why we do it. The buzz of inspiration.
The people. The passion. The stories.
Here’s to more of it.
Branding and Strategy
Branding
- Brand Strategy
- Brand Development
- Creative Campaign
Printing solutions that press all the right buttons.
Northern Print Solutions are a bespoke printer based in the North East of England. We recently worked closely with them on their vision for moving forward with their branding and strategy to target specific markets.
It’s always good to hear from our clients how they felt about the journey of working with us.
Cath Riley, Director of Planning, People and Commercial Operations at Northern Print Solutions said:
With big ambitions for the next five years, our business recognised that the power of our brand would be fundamental to achieving the huge changes that we faced both externally and internally. The team at Curate invested significant time up front with us, getting to understand where our business was, where we wanted to be and the challenges we faced. With a fresh pair of eyes, they came up with a brand refresh that maintained the personality that our clients knew and loved us for, yet resonated significantly with our changing target market.
The results to date have been incredible, which has generated a significant step-change in the business, including:
- Greatly improved target market brand engagement, resulting in a positive change in our inbound leads
- Instead of 1/20 leads meeting target qualification 5/10 now meet qualification
- 20x ROI
- Enhanced rate of cultural change and adoption of business practices to meet our target market needs as our team understands tour brand more than ever
We created a thorough brand strategy document that built a pathway for the business to follow and worked closely with the whole team to encourage a greater understanding and belief in the changes that were being made. This included updating their brand guidelines to a new colour palette, more expressive typography and a range of graphics and visuals to represent printing techniques that worked whether they were communicating in print or digitally online so that their messaging could transition across a bespoke tactile print piece or across their website and social channels.
We then created a campaign that helped express their key message through all the senses and how their business effects them, “we make sense” from the sweet smell of fresh print to the tactile touch of a textured stock.
It’s a great feeling to see another happy client and some very positive results.
Restaurant Launch
Branding
- Brand Support
- Promotional Creative
- Editorial Design
Roll up. Read all about it! As part of the promotional launch campaign for the opening of The Wolseley City restaurant in the heart of the City of London, we were asked to create a newspaper design which would be used as part of a promotional hamper and to be featured in the promotional video.
The classic and iconically elegant wonders of the original site in Piccadilly has now been introduced to the City. The newspaper was to feature all the special features that a Wolseley devotee would expect. We worked with stories about the heritage, signature dishes and cocktails, their famous Battenberg and the all important people in their team.
We created a broadsheet style newspaper design with a bespoke masthead and page details that made the piece feel and look authentic and connected with the brand with the brand elements incorporated.
The piece was then included in a special hamper that held a selection of goodies and was given to special guests and influencers. It was also featured in the hands of a queue of people in bowler hats within the promotional video for the launch of the opening.
There was a great response and you can now book your table at The Wolseley City.
Virgin Active Family Branding
Branding
- Family brand creation
- Illustration
- Animation
Virgin Active are all about movement for everyone. Their family clubs have an excellent offering for ages 6 weeks to 16 years, including a crèche, Club V full of engaging, inspiring activities, Kids’ camps and swim clubs and galas.
As their creative partner, we were asked to work on the family branding and communications as a sub-section of their overarching brand. Same values and purpose, but with more appeal to various age groups and activities.
To achieve this, we created a tiered design pack so that the style all looks consistent as part of a pack and works together with any cross over categories, but also had a visible difference between the items that are for younger age groups compared to the 14-16 year old range.
We designed a set of inclusive illustrations of young people engaged in all the different types of fitness and wellness activities. We included various pieces of equipment and accessories, so that we could use these to visually represent everything that Virgin Active offer. This was created as a flexible design pack so that we can always keep adding and creating new pieces when the need arises.
We included a mix of photography and smaller aspects of illustration when it gets to the older age groups within the pack and used the brand colours and added some specific new ones to this family brand pack to make sure we had enough flexibility to create the images required but still feel like part of the main Virgin Active palette. We also introduced an additional typeface to add character and a more fun element to highlight the words that were key, active words.
We then applied these to various pieces of collateral and communications, eg a brochure, emails, social media assets, digital screens, posters, flyers and invites.
A bit of subtle animation on the social assets and digital screens adds a bit of fun and brings them to life.
The Corrie Hotel Brand Development and Website
Branding
- Brand development
- Menus
- Website design and build
We were asked to help them transform their brand and proposition, (but not their logo), so that they could become a strong hub for visitors and locals on the island. They wanted their brand to be synonymous with The Isle of Arran and be one of the foremost recognisable places to visit.
So, for this we made a point of learning all about the history of the building and the location and to understand the attractions on the Isle. We investigated everything from weather patterns and topography to visitor attractions and ferry timetables. This gave us a great insight into any issues guests would have during a visit to what is a slightly more remote location.
By working with the team as a creative partner, we gained a real insight and started to understand the real hidden gems of such a trip, and this allowed us to create a full brand pack that promoted The Corrie Hotel in the best way to their guests. It was a useful process for their whole team and allowed the brand to become one of the most accessible in the region for tourism.
But the real cherry on the cake was when we applied all of this to their new website, which we developed from the ground up ensuring the user experience and information available all works together for the most enhanced guest journey. It has become a real shop window for The Corrie Hotel and shows the hotel interiors, beautiful location and localised information and attraction information to the fullest.
It was a real 360 approach as the website really thrives because of the work we put into establishing the brand proposition and the brand really works because it now has the website it deserves.
Andrew Garbutt and Rodger Meadows, The Corrie’s joint owners said:
The team at Curate were a pleasure to work with from the start to the fruition of our new website. They took time to understand our market, customer and business in depth and were great at both listening and getting the job done. They have a keen eye for design and ensuring it was the perfect match for our market and commercially for the business. They are also very likeable people, and we would have no reservations in recommending them to others.
Nevaya Brand Refresh
Branding
- Brand development and curation
- Website design and build
- On-going support
Nevaya deliver TV solutions for the hospitality industry with a host of partners and clients across the globe. They have created an array of amazing products that protect the end user's privacy, whilst also allowing them to cast their own media to in-room hotel TV’s in a completely seamless process.
We were tasked with taking their brand to the next level by developing a full set of extensive guidelines, define their proposition and set the standards for their many sub-brands and modules.
The first step was to understand the brand and its many products, so we could clearly define their ‘who, what and why’ theories. We felt that we needed to create a clear picture around each sub-brand and filter all the documentation that supports these products. The process was really thorough as we had to understand how each sub-product worked and what their USPs are.
Once we had defined the brand proposition, we set about creating colour palettes, defining typography and building visual assets. The tone of voice was also added to the mix to create a complete brand that is both flexible enough to be creative but also be structured and consistent enough to create impact.
We always work very closely with brands during and following a project like this and use the guidelines we’ve set in place to create much more of their brand collateral in a consistent and recognisable manner. This so far has covered everything from stationery to product documentation and email templates.
Nevaya is a constantly developing brand that is growing from strength to strength, so keep keep an eye out for their work the next time you’re staying at a hotel. They’ll probably be on a screen near you.
IPW1 Brand Development
Branding
- Branding
- Brand Messaging
- Window and Wall Graphics
- Promotional Items
IPW1 is a leading independent printer based at Tower Bridge in London. With a dedicated team and excellence in service, they work with some of the largest restaurant chains, galleries and PR companies in the country, delivering top quality print and finishing.
We bonded over menus several years ago and have worked together ever since. So, we were delighted when they asked us to help develop their brand further with the specific request of ensuring it represented their full range of offering, stellar services and the great personalities within their team, whilst making a statement and creating a real business impact. Their brief was simple. To really express how they bring print projects to life, especially with their advanced use of colour. In general, the clients imagination is the only limit and IPW1 are 100% dedicated to deliver the highest standards in the industry.
“We want to create The Colourdome” the owner Peter said. We love a brief where our imaginations can run riot! And so, The Colourdome was born. We created a world where anything goes. The usual black and white objects in the universe, were blasted with colour – the penguin, the football, the domino, the snowman…all featured in a colourful calendar and demonstrating various finishings examples as a promotional piece.
As they recently moved address, we also created window displays that illustrate an astronaut floating in with a balloon in a land of rainbows, zebras and peacocks, to show that ‘colour has landed’ in their new location.
It’s all very eye-catching, gets the message across clearly and is a really flexible addition to their brand assets and is a bit of fun – which we felt was crucial to get across their down to earth, friendly and attentive personalities and approach within the team.
It’s such a pleasure to work with open minds, creative briefs and a fantastic team. Keep an eye out for the next window instalment…
All In Brand Strategy
Branding
- Brand strategy
- Brand support
- Project management
- Copywriting/tone of voice
- Campaign concept
Alliants are the trusted digital partner of choice in the luxury hospitality space. As global market trendsetters, they lead and innovate first-class digital solutions and are passionate about developing the guest experience platform of the future. Working with some of the world’s most respected luxury hotels, travel, and retail brands to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
We were asked to create a series of branded gifts for an upcoming event that Alliants were attending. As part of the brief, we researched their ground-breaking app and applied a simplified logic to define what their client proposition really was. Alliants loved the result so much that they applied it across their whole brand internally and externally.
The Alliants app is an innovative hospitality concierge app with a difference. By applying or building custom modules, their clients can create a bespoke mobile app which can take their business to the next level.
We created an Alliants holdall for an event their team were attending. They wanted to give prospects a gift that they felt represented their proposition fully. We applied the words ‘all in’ to a premium holdall as we felt that when you take a trip you need a bag that holds it all, just as you may also need an app that has all your documentation, itinerary and concierge inside it.
By creating the ‘all in’ word mark from the Alliants lettering, a style was quickly established, which was transferred from the bag to the brand as a whole. Alliants loved the concept so much that we proposed that it became part of their wider brand and communications strategy. The team really adopted the concept, and their internal and external culture was born.
We created a full suite of documents outlining the proposition and messaging, clarifying what All In means for Alliants. This was rolled out across their website, employee onboarding packs, and various campaigns.
Philippa Witheat, Vice President of Marketing of Alliants said:
We appointed Curate based on their track record and knowledge of the hospitality sector. Their ability to quickly grasp and understand a brief is what sets them apart. The ‘All in’ strategy came entirely from Curate thinking differently about who we are and what we stand for. Curate’s ‘outside of the box’ thinking and creative ability is what ultimately gives them the edge.
Having worked with Curate for a number of years I am continually impressed with their creativity and ability to adapt to each challenge that I present them with. To find a full-service agency that delivers unique high-quality work consistently, on time and to a brief is a challenge. It’s rare that you find a creative partner that seamlessly becomes an extension to your marketing team.
