Our clients came to us only with a name, Birdie, which happens to be one of Beanie’s many nicknames. They regaled us with stories of her generosity, her larger-than-life personality, and her love of entertaining. Themes that we could elevate became immediately clear: the brand should be colorful, inviting, playful, and sporty. So many of the “virtual gaming” spaces we saw in our research occupy a digital-virtual-hard-angles-and metallic-surfaces kind of sensibility, we decidedly pushed against that grain and developed territories that explored the game of golf’s more whimsical and nostalgic touch-points.
The primary logo is a stylish, vintage, but-not-too-campy combination word and image mark, with a subtle reference to one of golf’s most recognizable signifiers—the flag and pin. Secondary and tertiary versions enable flexible scaling and usage.
The typographic system is just as fun, with the satisfyingly chunky Cooper Black announcing headlines. With color and overlapping collage affects applied, headlines become a design element for executions on web and print. Paired with classic and legible secondary title and body fonts, as well as a lovely script to lend a sense of playful humanity, the type system for Birdie’s provides ample opportunity for expression across the many mediums it inhabits from physical to digital landscapes.
Our color work for Birdie’s was one of the most important parts of the project because we knew we’d be setting a tone for interiors. So many of the virtual golf and indoor digital entertainment spaces we looked at for comps were black and white and red, a cool contemporary grayness pervading a bland sameness. We sought to avoid this at all costs. We wanted Bridie’s to feel a little preppy and 80s, but in an inviting way—the opposite of exclusive. So we went with a WASPY staple—pink and green—as our accents, but toned them down and made them feel more contemporary.
Assets included the ever-popular Birdie mascot, a well-dressed and well-patterned anthropomorphized fowl, as well as shapes based on golf courses, and custom illustrations in a vintage style to fill out our many areas of communication.
The brand identity, digital and physical experiences we crafted for Birdie’s represents the vision of a family of entrepreneurs seeking to honor their fun-loving and colorful Aunt Beanie’s beloved memory. Classic colors and pastels, nods to bygone-era country clubs, and a playful sensibility define the look, providing ample direction for interior styling and FF&E. Birdie’s is a world where people are free to not take themselves too seriously and have a damn good time teeing off.
Video Credit to Top Down Drone Solutions