When restaurateur extraordinaire Yannick Bigourdan approached us to be part of his vision for his own restaurant that was the nearest and dearest to his heart how can it be possible to say no. Not just because we've been working with Yannick on many of his wildly successful Toronto restaurants including The Carbon Bar, Amano, Union Chicken, The Berczy, and previously Note Bene, but that we really just love him. Yannick is a perfectionist to the highest level and few know the essence of service and hospitality as he does.

Lucie is a special project as it is named after his grandmother, who was a truly inspirational figure in his life and began an early association to French cuisine in the South of France where he grew up. Lucie is an homage to his dear grandmother's love, dedication, and undivided attention.

We set out to create an identity that captures what Lucie was born to become - elegant, feminine, timeless, and yes, French.

NEWS: As of September 2024, within a year of opening its doors, Lucie gained a place in the Michelin Guide for top recommended restaurants in Toronto.

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 word mark.

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. The collateral look borrows from the vintage painting aesthetic but with a twist, adding modern pop culture references to images or just creating something a bit off the wall… as we do.

In a collaboration with Brandsmith we produced the identity for Toronto dining hotspot, The Carbon Bar.

We also collaborated with architecture firm Giannone Petricone who designed the interior of this, now, Toronto iconic hotspot. 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. 

We created the name and brand system for this forthcoming elevated baked goods boutique. With an aim to capture the warm nostalgic feelings of home baked goods, but with an elevated and modern touch, we wanted a name that that looked and sounded good. 

The name Bubbameister is Yiddish, meaning – a long story, or wives tale, that is something that a grandmother would tell. Since many cultures see the grandmother as the goddess of baking and the one who provides the most comforting baked goods, Bubbameister just felt right. 

The brand strategy sessions revealed that the elements of Comfort, Trust, and Quality became the foundation of creating the visual landscape. The branding is simple and clean with a bold and recognisable shape and aesthetic. 

We met with Moment Coffee Company owner Jeffrey Fenton and loved his passion for coffee and what it meant to him as a cultural experience. We instantly got his vision and wanted to help him bring this gift to the local Toronto community.

Another beautiful component of the brand's story was that Jeffrey had fond memories of having coffee with his parents for many years and he cherished those times. As a dedication to the memories he had and the relationship with his parents he started Moment, and named two of the blends after his parents, Arlene and Brian. Another was also named Jony after Fenton's admiration for Sir Jony Ive, Apple's former chief design officer and responsible for the iconic brand that we know today.

We especially liked that it is roasted locally.

Unfortunately, creative director Adam Nathan can't drink coffee without going completely insane so he had to rely on deeply inhaling the bags of fresh roasted beans, which he loved. The rest of us dove straight in and started our days with it and loved it. Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.

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.

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 recognisable identity that is modern but with a classic and timeless feel. 

Amano was the first full-service restaurant in Toronto's Union Station as part of its revitalisation and was an instant hit. Chef Michael Angeloni, who’s been 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. 

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. 

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 restaurant 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.

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 revitalised 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 from full design to collaboration with other artists and the label boss Mitch Alexander to vinyl sleeve design layout.

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.

From the first year MTV was back on the air in Canada in 2006 up until 2012, we designed sets for the majority of the network's shows such as: The Hills After Show (and all After Shows), 1G5G, Brandon Flowers (The Killers) concert, Cocktales, Sheena's Jersey Shore Pre Show. We also gave the networks daily 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.  

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. 

Click to view larger

Here is a motion graphics piece as well as a production design piece we were part of.