I was lucky enough to help create a unique brand experience for an exciting café in Facebook's newest headquarters in Gramercy Park, NYC. The architectural project was headed by the great Frank Gehry, and would be renovating a historic building in one of the most beautiful parts of NYC. I was stoked to get started.

Inspiration + Direction

The design approach comes from this idea that we wanted FB&J to be a reprieve from the “always-on” attitude so closely associated with working at one of the largest tech companies in the world. I wanted to create a space that felt special and prompted customers to forgo work for an hour and connect to each other. I pulled inspiration from taverns as a social gathering place, and mixed in this idea of exclusivity of the shared experience of being Facebook employees, which combined to give us the concept of a Speakeasy as a key design inspiration.

A Rich History

The building at 225 Park Ave S was originally built as the headquarters for the American Woolen Company in 1912, which was one of the largest textile manufacturers in the world at the time. The rich history of textile manufacturing in NYC and its connection to the workers rights movement was more than enough for us to fold into our developing brand story.

Design Approach

With such a rich brand story, my biggest challenge was to avoid going towards what would be comfortable territory for Facebook… a nice, clean and minimal aesthetic. I pulled inspiration from ghost signs of generations past, the dark, mysterious atmosphere of a speakeasy, the in-your-face attitude of the labor movement in the early 1900’s, and imagery associated with wool and textile production to develop a compelling and rich brand that leaves viewers with more questions than answers, and wanting more.

This hand drawn illustration style blends with a moody and rich color pallete and an eclectic blend of typefaces to create a unique visual identity system, complete with in an extensive suite of logos that retains brand consitency while being as fun as possible.