The Bear House
Brand development
The Bear House is a concept for a small concert venue designed to showcase independent artists. The venue emphasizes an intimate, unfiltered live music experience. The project began with a creative prompt: choose an animal and transform it into a brand. I selected the bear for its independent nature and fearless presence, translating these qualities into a brand that supports emerging artists and raw, authentic performances.
Brand Squares
When creating the concept for The Bear House, I needed to ensure that the brand’s voice would align with its visual identity. I created a set of brand squares that worked to encompass the brand's color palette, relevant photography, and possible motifs of the brand. I created these squares before settling on a logo or any specific design decisions. Getting feedback on these squares helped me tweak and further refine the photography style and textures of the visual identity.
Logo Development
When developing The Bear House brand I wanted flexibility to be a priority especially with its logo concept. I played around with combining concert motifs with bears and different expressions on their faces. I ended up leaning towards a growling bear to exemplify the unfiltered and loud vibe of the venue. I created three marks that could be used interchangeably to create variety and work on dark and light backgrounds. The logo without the mouth is for a more understated and internal use while the open mouth without the eyes is for direct external facing works.
Grid
When imagining how typography would be used on a grid for this brand I wanted to explore the possibilities of a less rigid system. I experimented with different angles of type to see how it would work with the chosen photography and logo. Setting up layouts with possibilities of using an angled system created a dynamic energy that embodies the brand. I used the guidelines' layouts to provide examples of how angled elements can be combined with straight text, and straight elements can be combined with angled elements. Leaning into the flexibility of type layouts helped me embrace the possibilities of a more "unfiltered" brand style.
This project challenged me to translate emotion and energy into flexible design. This resulted in creating a brand system that feels as alive and authentic as the artists it represents.
