Reviewed: Friday Likes 287: From Glasfurd & Walker, Touch, and SPARK

edited May 2019 in conversations

“From Glasfurd & Walker, Touch, and SPARK”



Friday Likes 287








Not to repeat my intro from a couple of weeks ago but the same applies this week: A pretty wide variety of styles and approaches this week, with work from Vancouver, Edinburgh, and Tampa Bay.

Aburi Tora by Glasfurd & Walker

Aburi Tora by Glasfurd & Walker

Aburi Tora is a contemporary sushi restaurant in Toronto that uses a "concierge system" with an ordering platform and a series of laneways that bring food to you. Unlike the usual conveyor belt sushi, this is high-end, seriously crafted sushi. With an interior that references underwater themes and science fiction, the identity, designed by Vancouver-based Glasfurd & Walker, manages to hit on those themes with a strong Japanese aesthetic. At the center is a beautiful wordmark with an unexpected "R" that looks great in a vertical arrangement and the thin stroke around is a great complement. The moody, textural background is a great alternative to the more usual gradients. The wordmark was expanded into a full alphabet in collaboration with Kenneth Ormandy and aside from being a lovely high-contrast sans serif, it has a few surprises in some of the characters. As a bonus to the project, the soy sauce bottle is all kinds of groovy. See full project

Linn House by Touch

Linn House by Touch

Linn House -- no website for it but you can see some pictures here -- is a nineteenth-century mansion in Strathspey, in northeastern Scotland, owned by distiller Chivas Brothers as its "brand home" where they host guests and events. The identity, designed by Edinburgh, Scotland-based Touch, is as beautifully appointed as the mansion's interiors with a thin, elegant, perfectly spaced serif and a thin gold line that runs vertically across the materials. I think the golden line is meant to represent a pour of whiskey, which is fine if it does, but I'm also happy to take it at face value as an elegant, foil stamped design detail. My only complaint is that I wish there were more images to see and that it's a long road to drinking time today as I write this at 6:00am. So I guess that's two complaints total. See full project

Texas Children's "Hi" by SPARK

Texas Children's

And now for something different (client-wise)... Texas Children's Hospital is a pediatric hospital in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX, and the reason we are talking about a hospital in Friday Likes is because of their new employee orientation materials, which they have developed into its own mini-brand, "Hi", designed by Tampa, FL-based SPARK. Usually materials for these things are cheap throwaway printouts and bad swag but this is super cool, with a hip school-ish aesthetic, some fun typographic combinations, and excellent swag that includes pins, pennants, t-shirts, and paper megaphone. I know this isn't as exciting or highfalutin as restaurants or hotels but it's a great example of good, fun design used to elevate something mundane and make it more memorable and significant. See full project


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