Challenge

When Keith McNally decided to open a casual, Eastern European-inspired cafe on New York’s Lower East Side, he asked the Mucca Design team to create a unified brand that would permeate every aspect of the project. As with McNally’s other restaurants, our challenge was to conceive a new identity that exudes a time-worn sense of history.

Action

From hand-drawn and stamped typography, to staff t-shirts printed with choking-victim rescue instructions, every aspect of the project was designed with a sense of homemade quirkiness, reminiscent of a family-owned downtown joint. We worked with a calligrapher to create a unique signature-style logo, which we translated into an old-school neon sign on the façade—a vintage touch that helped integrate it with the character of the neighborhood. In keeping with the handcrafted feel of the Schiller’s brand, Mucca Design created an original typeface with a graphic interface that generates oddly sized and unevenly spaced letters to give the menu a unique handwritten appearance, while allowing staff the flexibility to update it as often as needed. And after many intensive brand strategy sessions concerning the wine service, with all the grueling wine-tastings involved, we were unable to spell with any certainty. Fortunately, we were still able to count to three.

Results

Schiller’s entry into the Lower East Side presaged a rush of well-reviewed restaurants to the nabe, transforming a gritty area into Manhattan’s next dining destination.

Recognition

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