The Birds Nest Pub Branding a classic London music venue

The Birds Nest is an established pub and music venue located in Deptford, London. They approached graphic design agency Superfried to provide a new brand identity, marketing material, and web development services.

The venue has a strong musical heritage. Formerly The Oxford Arms the venue hosted big bands such as Squeeze and Dire Straits. This reputation for live music continues today from folk to hardcore punk, blues to ska, and established artists like Kate Tempest to breaking new bands.

It is no surprise that The Birds Nest pub is also a hub for artists. An established art gallery now resides in the back room showcasing emerging talent via monthly exhibitions. Geographically, its proximity to the river has also led to historic connotations with pirates.

Consequently, with musicians, artists, and pirates it was becoming clear the pub was a destination for underground rebellion. So during the discovery stage, it was proposed that a skull and crossbones may provide a suitable symbol for their target rebels.

The client was fully on board, however, we were aware this approach has been used for numerous brandmarks. To create standout, distinction, and a stronger connection to the name, after numerous design iterations a unique bird skull was developed using a weathered illustration style. The new bird marque provided a unique creative solution that could be fully owned and immediately recognised in a bustling area of London entertainment venues.

To maintain the edgy, punk / pirate aesthetic the brand colour palette was reduced to just black and white. Looking at the typography for the logotype design, an over-kerned slab serif had sufficient attitude without becoming cliché. For web and screen purposes, Courier provided a suitable web-safe, lo-fi aesthetic.