rec this book has been created by jessi wilson, a senior in graphic design+creative writing, in november of 2012. contained herein is work from michael kidwell’s design systems course at the kansas city art institute. this is a hypothetical rebranding project. unfortunately, none of this is in any way affiliated with the recordbar. thanks for playing.
cordbar
welcome to recordbar we’re kansas city’s one and only “hi-fi dive” for good reason.
we’ve got all the atmosphere of a juke joint but with chefs in the back and a range of slick tunes, live onstage every night, from around town and abroad. our meals are like a jukebox, too: we’ve got a stack of old standards and ideas, but you’re the one who gets to put it together your own favorite way. you oughtta go ahead and floor it to that oddball corner of 43rd, westport, and southwest trafficway. put some food in your belly, some drink in your head, and some kick in your heels.
we want to keep kansas city fed, boozed, and entertained with no compromises.
what the hell’s a hi-fi dive? we want you to have the best night out you can get your hands on. but it can’t be too sleek, too shiny, or it’ll be a standoffish bore. at the same time…you’ve gotta be careful not to cross over into hard-ass territory recordbar likes that perfect middle ground. enough polish to make it worth your while, enough character to make it worth the memories.
if you’ve somehow gotten this far without having caught on to the look and the lingo yet… we’ve been looking back to some of those old-school sensibilities, with that smooth spinning vinyl and that good ol’ rock & roll style, with blue jeans, red lipstick, greased hair, and that ultimate pinnacle of rowdy luxury: the loud, sweet, fast cars.
we don’t want “unexpected.” we want “that looks like a place i want to be going.”
what do we stand for? these are the values we hold close.
quality it’s that sense of the good stuff: high fidelity tunes, true gourmet ingredients, and the top shelf.
taste it’s those discerning eyes, ears, and mouth of yours that bring you back again and again.
character it’s the pinball, the old records on the walls and the bartender who knows your name & your drink.
authenticity it’s the feeling of never having to try too hard to be the person you are and place you want to be.
rock&roll it’s what it’s all about: puts the stomp in your shoes, snap in your fingers & the grin on your face.
who comes around? here’s the kind of audience we’ve had and who we want to keep.
the band “casual social nudity� is an indie band from saint louis. they have played the recordbar twice, and love it. the crowd rocks out and has a great time and these cats wanna keep coming back.
the crowd troy & steph’s favorite band came through town to the recordbar, so they dragged their friends hannah and ian out on a friday night. everybody loved the scene, and they’ve seen dozens of other shows since then.
the barkeep jody is a bartender at the union, but he knows where to go when he wakes up sunday... the recordbar’s bartender’s brunch, from noon to five, with a build-your-own bloody mary bar. he makes a mean one.
the foodie they may not spend their saturday nights bartending, but that doesn’t mean ainsley and her friends are going to be up before noon on a sunday. she never misses a brunch, and loves new mixes from the ingredients list.
how does recordbar stack up? we scoped out our neighbors in this part of town to see how they were doing. they’re pretty straightforward in their look and intentions. but dig this: we just do it all at once, and we do it better.
typography & colors
that hotrod red and that cool blue are the primary colors, with grey accents. black and white are free.
CUBANO regular the hi-fi dive abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz these caps are for big ideas.
caecilia light & italic & bold italic & heavy kansas city’s a great town for food, drink, and music, and kc’s own recordbar is a great pick for all three. the iconic decor is classic: it’s cool without being trendy and fits the mood of the place. the crowds aren’t there for social posturing: they’re there for a good time. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz & abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz & abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz these lowercases are for explaining everything else.
the brandmark
the brandmark can use any of the colors
the logotype
recordbar recordbar the logotype likes to be red or blue, but it spends a fair amount of time dressed in white on dark colors.
signature & staging
recordbar the hi-fi dive
use the height of the tagline to hang it and the mark centered under the logotype. that same height stays above and below, but the sides can trail all the way across a scene.
things y’ought not do
recordbar the hi-fi dive the hi-fi dive doesn’t want to draw this much attention to itself.
recordbar this just always seems so smart… but it makes you look like a square.
photo treatment
original photo
greyscale halftone dotscreen
dotscreen 50% multiplied
so how does that look? here’s how we throw all those pieces and parts into the things we show off, use, and abuse.
the recordcar
it would live outside the venue, in the parking lot, attracting lots of notice and instagram locationhits by the crowd that walks in and around it.
recordbar http://ww w.recordbar .com
web & mobile
MENU CALENDAR tickets STORE GALLERY contact recordbar
enter
the hi-fi dive
the website starts with a large graphic holding page before you check the schedules and menus. the mobile site opts instead for a large, bulleted list to get around.
these recordbar business cards show off a number of different slick hotrod pictures to get people to keep hold of them.
business cards
envelopes
white on the back for easy addressing, with a red flap and a car driving away, like mail sent out.
the booking agreement is a relatively short and simple contract laying out expectations for both the concert venue and the performers, seen here alongside a general correspondence letter.
booking contract & letter
this menu design tips its hat to the feeling of taking a record out of its sleeve.
restaurant menu
the back of the menu sleeve and the back of the menu booklet.
restaurant menu
the front of each piece, including the round ingredient list.
restaurant menu
this list is a lone wolf so you can look at it alongside any page in the menu to customize your dish.
restaurant menu
first is the full dinner menu, standard and full of options that almost all offer you the chance to “build your own� using the record ingredient list experience.
restaurant menu
next most important is the drink list, from beer all the way to pineapple juice. then, a reduced and redefined menu for lunch, with fewer do-it-yourself options.
restaurant menu
and finally, the menu for the very well-loved late afternoon brunch, the sunday bloody sunday.
restaurant menu
the open back of the menu book.
restaurant menu
jacket patch
both embroidered sleeve & rocker sized patches for jean jackets or leather jackets.
tees
nobody can ever go wrong with a black t-shirt, especially not from a rock band or a concert venue.
a billboard can stand out against the skyline to encourage people to try out weekend destinations other than just power & light.
billboard
all we’re missing is you.
recordbar
jessi wilson, 2012