Hahana Beach is a sports bar and restaurant in Cincinnati with sand volleyball courts
and a casual Polynesian vibe. I enjoyed creating the logo that was a key
component of their identity.
early sketches (above) and visual inspiration (below)
I was brought to this project early in the planning stages. The restaurant's opening was timed with a national volleyball tournament and was on an accelerated schedule. I began sketching before anything was set in stone and only had the name of the venue to work with. it was decided that it would be a beachy/tropical kind of place and family-friendly. Gator's inspired alligators, St. Kitt's is known for its vervet monkeys, and Bernie's just seemed to call for anything out of the ordinary.
new direction: refined sketches (above) and visual inspiration (below)
Many sketches later, the restaurant took a new direction —a less kitschy approach, with more emphasis on sports and a twenty-something vibe. We started looking at tribal tattoos and authentic polynesian ornamentation for inspiration and pursued two pathways with a night/day theme: One was a savage face inspired by Maori tattoos. The other was a double-faced sun/moon emblem. I preferred the Moari, but the client went with the sun and moon, thinking the daytime and nightime active hours were a critical component of the business.
At this point, I dropped my pencils and took to sketching in the computer to constrain myself into a very geometric vein. I enjoyed working this way more than I thought I would.
At this point, I dropped my pencils and took to sketching in the computer to constrain myself into a very geometric vein. I enjoyed working this way more than I thought I would.
With a little finessing, and some effective type added by Parkey Design, the logo was finished. The mark without the type makes a very effective avatar for social media.
Once the logo was set in stone, I was invited to design the restaurant's first menu. There was no photography of the bar's offerings, so a typographic solution was needed. I went back to my original inspiration —artifacts and ornamentation of the South Pacific and created a toolkit of ornaments and flourishes.
a series of polynesian-inspired ornaments for menu and general use.
