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 design studio Superfried to develop a new brand identity, marketing scheme and web presence.

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 had 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 is a very overused direction. To create stand out, distinction and a stronger connection to the name a unique bird skull was designed. The new bird marque provided a unique branding 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 palette was reduced to just black and white. Looking at the typography for the logotype, an over kerned slab serif had sufficient attitude without becoming cliche. For web and screen purposes, Courier provided a suitable web-safe, lo-fi aesthetic.