When forming an identity for a client, sometimes we’re presented with a carefully conceived (though often faceless) idea. In this case, seasoned restaurant and bar owner Sam McNulty already developed a rough identity for his newest property, Bar Cento (pronounced “chento”), and asked us to flesh out the initial concept and turn it into something really impactful.

Cento, Italian for 100, would feature a selection of 100 wines. The client desired Cento to evoke the authenticity and familiarity of a classic Italian bar and pump a young heartbeat. Since 100 is wonderfully even in our western number system, I gave the angled ascender in the ‘t’ a matching brother falling from the ‘n’. The knocked-out trough and peak of the ‘e’ and ‘n’ suggest an audio wave flowing through the curves of each letter. Also, those cut-out chunks give the logo a digital or modern edge. Overall, I believe that the identity we created fits in well with bar’s sister locations, Bier Markt and Speakeasy.