For years we’ve wanted to work on a project in Prince Edward County, so when the opportunity knocked, we answered the door with open arms and fully embraced this amazing experience.
When Chef Hidde Zomer (formerly of Toronto’s The Carbon Bar & Nota Bene, and Amsterdam’s Restaurant de Kas) and wife/business partner Sarah Zomer mentioned that they bought a property in The County and that they wanted to open a concept restaurant there, well, you can imagine the excitement to be part of this.
Since the conception of this amazing sustainably-minded farm to table wood-fire restaurant, Flame + Smith has embraced the local agricultural and culinary artisans and is quickly becoming part of the fabric of County society.
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When it came to the branding, we took their dreams and vision in mind and came up with the name Flame + Smith to directly reflect the artistry of fire that Chef Zomer deeply wanted to cultivate. The Zomer’s also wanted to pay homage to the region, so we created a collage of local flowers, grapes (signifying the wine that The County is known for) and agriculture to visually accompany the wordmark.
The brand came together beautifully and we now have a great reason to get out of the city and out into the country…even just for dinner…and maybe a mosquito bite.
Ok, so who doesn’t like baked goods? Some may have said they don’t so I’ll keep talking to those who do. Now who doesn’t like baked goods that are custom made? This is also why we jumped at the opportunity to do an identity for a startup baking brand.
In a collaboration with Brandsmith we produced the identity for Toronto dining hotspot, The Carbon Bar.
We also collaborated with architecture firm Giannone Petricone as we produced a few art installations comprised of mixing boards and custom designed gig posters to pay homage to the building's history as a music venue.
Since Carbon's opening, we have created & produced brand and design elements such as their Industry night food fest called GBD Mondays (Golden Brown & Delicious) as well as The Carbon Snack Bar. To commemorate thee sub brands, we designed and produced a limited edition series of post cards.
To further extend The Carbon Bar Experience, we designed labelling for the distribution of their BBQ sauces and Spice Rubs as well as T shirts and merchandise.
From the minds and hearts of one of Prince Edward County’s top restaurants, Flame + Smith, comes another layer of thoughtfulness and sustainability to their brand with their new Garden. The husband and wife team of Chef Hidde Zomer and Sarah Zomer have implemented a garden to provide the restauarant and the general public with locally grown fruits and vegetables to further inspire Flame + Smith’s cuisine and the brand’s ethos of living sustainably with the land.
So when approached about producing an identity for this concept, well, needless to say, it was a jump in with both feet kind of a reply.
It was such joy working on this brand, which is another incredible culinary project by the boys behind The Carbon Bar and Union Chicken.
Amano is now the first full-service restaurant in Toronto's Union Station as part of its revitalization, and it's already massive. Chef Michael Angeloni, who you've probably seen on countless tv shows, has taken things back to the old country....kind of. The concept here is to offer handmade pasta that's inspired by tradition but not tied to it.
As you walk down the hall of the concourse in the morning you can see right into Amano's (A Mano, which means by hand....or something like that) kitchen as its floor to ceiling windows reveal pasta being made fresh for the day.
With this beautiful concept, we decided to play homage to the use of the hand in Italian culture with one of their most famous gestures. From here, we developed a visual language that plays off the idea of putting a twist on tradition, or the ordinary. From adding tattoos on old ladies, to storm trooper helmets and fancy jackets on an italian tandem bicycle crew, we fully support this kind of boldness in the kitchen and jump at the chance to break out a bit.
Located in Sherway Gardens as well as in right in the very heart of downtown Toronto in Union Station (Canada's busiest building), Union Chicken is the first full-service restaurant in the Station.
Working with the Union Chicken team has been phenomenal. Their professionalism and integrity was a perfect fit and we loved branding one of Toronto's now most talked about chicken spot. It's seriously legit. This organically raised, free-range chicken brand is led by former Executive Chef of the Grand Electric & Electric Mud fame, Chef Michael Angeloni, legendary restauranteur Yannick Bigourdan (The Carbon Bar, formerly of Nota Bene) & Adam Teolis. These guys are totally on point and Chef Angeloni's creative approach to UC's dishes have become an instant success and gaining a cult-like following.
From the identity, packaging, plate graphics, uniforms, and custom art pieces and wallpaper, we wanted to give Union Chicken a recognizable identity that is modern but with a classic and timeless feel.
Non public-facing company, Union Food, is the brand behind the curation, maintenance, and servicing of the food and service businesses that will be inhabiting Toronto's revitalized Union Station.
The brand identity was created with a combination of their core attributes, food service, and legacy. We were inspired by the architectural quatrefoil design elements from Union Station's original 1927 design which was modified and added to the strength, security and legacy that the brand’s stakeholders hold dear.
We all felt that the experience with Union Food should be consistent and constantly supporting their position of professionalism and refinement. Therefore, exposure to the brand should be expressed in all forms of communication. Cleanliness and pride is something that we extended into stationery and any collateral to keep the brand in alignment with its brand promise and standards.
The look of microCastle has definitely evolved over the years. After designing the original identity many years ago, we took over producing the album artwork a couple of years in, and since then a geometric influence has become a theme of the label's aesthetic as it suits the precision of electronic music.
Check out these plus more cover art in the Album Art page.
Here is a collection of album artwork.... not much more else to say.
Shortly after the 2006 launch of MTV in Canada, we began working with the brand by designing their Christmas holiday set. This included a series of awkward holiday postcard style bumpers inspired by the idea of peeing in the snow (see below). Yes, you can't be serious all the time...it's just not good for your creative health.
From that point forward, up until 2012, we designed sets for the majority of the network's shows such as: The Hills After Show (and all subsequent After Shows), 1G5G, In Concert with Brandon Flowers (The Killers), Cocktales, Sheena's Jersey Shore PreShow, and gave the network's main show, MTV LIVE, a new look in the beginning of 2008. Later that year the show went on to win a Gemini Award for Best Talk Series.
For MTV LIVE's Holiday season, we produced a series of left-field on-air bumpers. Love clients who dare to be a little risky.
While redesigning the set for MTV LIVE we produced a series of 30 custom art piece pillows for the '08 launch that were on rotation behind the hosts & guests. A collection of pieces were used from Jellyfunk's Adam Nathan, the Drake Hotel's Tyler Longshaw, MTV and Model Citizen and were produced by Adam & Tyler.
Ah, love the poster. Here is a collection of posters – from gig posters to re-designed classic concert posters, 80s movies & indie flicks.
Some images have a little info so click on an image to view it larger in a lightbox.
This is a collection of bits and pieces produced for clients, or for our own enjoyment.
Here is a motion graphics piece as well as a production design piece we were part of.