As Typeface settles in to its 8th year I’ve found that many of the principles I started with have stuck. Some I still have to fight for and others, they just fit and a project just works. Vintners Lanes was one of those projects where the creative, the marketing and the team behind the venue all came together to make something really special.
I’ve worked with some great hospitality clients over the last 8 years. From website design, development and ongoing support for the likes of The Fighting Cocks, OLR Cafe and Bacchus in Kingston to branding and brand development for Tap Select, the Hangar and Urbanite Coffee. It’s been great to see clients grow and to join them on their journeys.
Recently Typeface finished a branding and website development project for Vintners Lanes, a boutique bowling alley with a very special creative vision in Greenwich, London.
Vintners Lanes
Starting with a blank slate is every graphic designers dream with a project like this. The team at Vintners built their 7-lane boutique bowling alley and bar from scratch and they had a vision for the end product. The brief? A cosy snapshot of Victoriana in an inspired space with a modern twist, this is classy stuff and Typeface was happy to oblige.
The logo
It was clear from the offset that the logo itself had to be hand drawn. While there are some great fonts out there that replicate the look and feel of modern Victorian design, I wanted this to feel like the evolution of an original handmade logo. Crisp and modern but with obvious heritage. To get to that point, you’re going to need to start with a hand drawn logo.
A huge inspiration for me as a graphic designer comes from hand drawn lettering. Subtle connectivity between the letters, a little flourish here, a deliberate mistake there. It all fits together to create something thats unmistakably human-made.
I worked in an off-license back in the late 90s while I was in college and one of the regulars was a classic sign writer. He’d spend 4 months of the year producing beautifully painted lettering for canal boats and the rest of the year day drinking. Probably not something to aim for but to me, he was a wizard.
With the Vintners lanes brand I took inspiration from canal boats, signwriting and old pre-billboard advertisements. That beautiful hand painted lettering that used to adorn the sides of corner shops, cheeky cigar advertisements. Throw in some Americana for good measure and you have a modern brand that screams heritage. A pastiche of Victorian style for the modern audience.
An online presence to match
Of course, Typeface doesn’t just produce branding for the physical space. Translating a physical brand in to the online space is somewhat of a speciality here and so Vintners Lanes benefits from a bespoke design and custom WordPress build. The Vintners Lanes website is easy to use, informative and helps to reinforce the brand outside its physical space. A bespoke WordPress build that showcases the Lanes’ extensive food and drinks menus, with an upcoming events system and targeted booking pages for private hire and parties. Visit the Vintners Lanes website here.
Award-winning design
Looking the part has been Typeface’s mantra since day one, so it’s no surprise that shortly after launching to an excited public response, Vintners Lanes went on to win the “Best in the World” award at the 40th Annual Bowling Centre Architecture and Design Awards. Read more about that on Time Out.
Working alongside hospitality experts and Typeface client IH Solutions, we’ve created menus, staff uniforms, print ads, screens and signage for Vintners Lanes. Each piece of creative has built on the Lanes brand, creating a brand language that screams heritage.
Complete brand and digital design for the hospitality sector, from menus to management systems. Typeface partners with clients like IH Solutions to deliver cohesive, end-to-end experiences.
Whether you’re launching a new venue or elevating an established brand, Typeface can design every touchpoint to reflect your identity and meet the demands of the modern hospitality landscape. From strategic branding and websites to point-of-sale design and operational tools, our collaborative work with partners like IH Solutions means everything works, and looks, as it should. Ready to create something your customers will remember? Contact Typeface today.
