Bohemian Beirut is a restaurant birthed out of a vision to build a thriving hospitality and entertainment business propelled by true community and honest hospitality. Through the intimate act of dining and drinking together—savouring life together—the aim is to provide the people of Dundas, Ontario and the Greater Toronto/Hamilton Area a place to call their own when they need a place to kick back and live a little.
2023
Rony Mikhael
After many turbulent years finding his footing with his first restaurant, restaurateur Marwan “Maro” Al Chamaa called his in for another go. His first spot, Maro’s Bistro saw immense success as he tightened up his operations and invested (with us) in the brand. What he was looking for next was not to just expand this place. He was looking to start fresh, taking all of his learnings and applying them into what he would call Bohemian Beirut. A restaurant in a new town (to him), Bohemian Beirut represented the next step in his evolution, representing a more sophisticated palette yet in an approachable, comfortable and eclectic setting. It would feature a unique interpretation of foods that harken to the traditional dishes of the Mediterranean region.
We worked with them to develop a brand experience that would welcome guests into a space filled with texture, life, and a complete takeover of the senses. Starting with a workshop to understand and envision the experience on every level, we defined a strategy that translated from words and heart into design and art. We developed the restaurant identity, ephemera, marketing collateral, and website. We also consulted on the branded environment, dictating textures, colours, and finishes, as well as designing and painting a mural within their foyer. We designed the facade of the restaurant to feel a little more esoteric than most; opting for window decals rather than hardware signs, to operate as subtle identifiers rather than screaming to the street. Bohemian Beirut quickly became a well-loved and oft-visited spot for locals and beyond.
DETAILS: THE SCRIPT
The logotype was created by first making our own custom digital brush that mimiked the angle of an Arabic script nib. We produced many itereations, even writing the name from right to left to acheive a flow and aesthetic that ties closely with Arabic.
DETAILS: THE STAR ANISE & LINEWORK
At the time of the project, Lebanon was suffering through significant economical and political unrest, so we begrudgingly opted to take or research online instead of the streets. Through this, however, we were still able to virtually walk the streets, seeing Beirut through the lenses of tourists and locals alike. Their viewpoints provided us many points of inspiration that inspired various graphic motifs and textures. For instance, the linework that is patterned across the front doors is inspired by a wrought iron gates commonly found around Beirut. The star anise featured here in gold was inspired by Maro's favourinte anise-based Levantine spirit: Arak.
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