Brand Identity and Custom Typeface for Dead Poets Bar
Less control over the pen creates more character in the identity.
1 awardD&ADOddity built an identity and custom typeface for Dead Poets, a neighbourhood venue combining a bar, café, barbershop and event space. Its tribute to deceased artists became a playful premise for a changing handwritten logo. The studio’s Haunted Hand experiments used deliberately awkward writing methods to produce unpredictable marks suited to the venue’s informal personality.
More in white
Set in a custom typeface
Insights
- The venue honours artists across music, painting, literature and film. This broader cultural theme gives the name a role beyond a reference to poetry.
- Oddity wanted a contemporary expression of an easygoing dive bar, moving beyond familiar American retro styling.
- Designers wrote with closed eyes and their non-dominant hand, changed their grip, and attached tools to long sticks or heavy objects to reduce control.
- Repeated versions of the name made variation part of the logo. The studio presents the resulting marks through the fictional premise of ghostly handwriting.
- The published production notes list a custom typeface alongside Italian Plate, with GMUND paper credited for printed material.
- The identity received a D&AD Graphite Pencil in New Brand Identity in 2025, with Oddity credited as entrant and design agency.
Awards
Explore awards →Verified awards for this project. Years refer to the award edition; coverage is partial.
D&AD2025
- Graphite ↗New Brand Identity / Enterprise <10
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