“Welcome to the place where no one can resist staying for just one more.”

Banter Room 

It’s like having a drink at a friend’s place, but your friend with the best taste who makes the best cocktails and keeps their bar stocked with things you’ve never tried. Who always makes that one amazing midnight snack that keeps everyone going. It’s that feeling of getting into the rhythm of conversation, of knowing just what to say, of cracking that perfect joke that your friends laugh at for weeks. Banter Room is an enviable host that makes you feel valued and welcomed to the club. 

Branding, Print Design, Web Design, Menu Design & Production, Photography, Signage Design, Copywriting

 Teddy and Jasmine are excellent hosts who wanted to recreate the feeling of hanging out at a friend’s apartment in their Yaletown bar. In meeting with them initially we got a feel for their personalities and values for the space, and wove them into their brand story. We used this as core guidelines for the entire project, where attention to detail, rich, tactile materials and the feeling of being part of the club were key.

The brand of Banter Room involves two marks: One that serves as a clandestine symbol of the space, and one that serves as logotype and resolution of the mystery. In the experience of entering the bar from the street, there is no external indication of the name. The symbol is the only mark encountered from exterior signage through the placement of the menus on the table. It is only when the menus are opened or turned that the name is revealed

We developed a colour system for the Banter Room for use in their menus. The palette of each menu reflects the time of day across all print materials as well as digital activations, with lunch being emerald, dinner an evening navy, and brunch pink. The Drink Menus are a navy and brass in a leather-covered book but contain the rest of the brand colours in the printed interior pages.

The menus for Banter Room needed to be different. They were the main point of tactile experience and one of the first interactions of each customer with the brand; a place to stand out. We designed a simple fastener system for the bamboo boards, and leather covers in the case of the cocktail menus, using brass rods and small rubber washers.

Each one of the menus was laser cut and finished by hand in our tiny apartment right down to the bevelling of the rods to guarantee a unique design and beautiful finish.

This beautiful mural by Priscilla Yu for the patio adds a splash of colour to the brighter side of Banter Room and brings all of their daily palette together while expanding upon it. This wall was designed to be the background of a feature for social media with a circular swing hanging in front.

 We built their website using Squarespace to allow them to take the reins and update their menus and other information as they grow and develop. It features striking imagery, clear and organized menus and information, and copy paints a picture of their brand story throughout.