Roster
Roster is a Bar & Restaurant and a vibrant meeting place in the heart of Helsinki, and now also in Turku. The brief was to design a complete restaurant experience, including concept, naming, interior design, service design, digital design and branding.
Roster wanted to be a restaurant that stands the test of time and still looks good 10 or even 20 years later. A place that is exciting and provokes discussion. Something that could also be implemented easily in another 2-3 cities.
More Info
client:
NoHo Partners
website:
contributions:
Brand identity
Spatial design
Interior design
Service design
Copywriting
Illustrations
Web design
Experience design
Naming
awards:
Best of Finnish Advertising and Design, Silver Award, 2017
industry:
Hospitality
As a restaurant, Roster strips away from the formalities of fine dining and focuses instead on high quality food, superb service and great ambience. In the identity we wanted to highlight the different personas of the restaurant and the overall strong attitude.
Roster's design complements the style of the cuisine. Interiors are a mix of captivating elements, custom made furniture with a vintage twist, both raw and refined materials as well as hand picked design objects. Branding that includes a custom typeface and 'tattoo' illustrations reflect the brisk and humorous style and character of the two founders Kari Aihinen and Paul Hickman.
The Roster features eye-catching and visually appealing elements such as a wine bottle installation moving between the two floors. The classical high quality design of the space and materials are combined with unconventional details and combinations.
We created different spaces for different dining experiences: At Chef's Table, the visitor can see first hand what happens in the restaurant's open kitchen; The Omert Lounge is perfect for those who want a private and customized restaurant experience, you can spend an evening filled with Nordic-inspired cocktails at the top floor bar, and the booths are suitable for friend groups and families of 4-6 people.
A new principle was developed for the sale of wine, which allows dozens of top wines to be sold by glass. On Sundays a classical British Sunday Roast Dinner is served - Roster style.
One of the main elements of the look is Roster's own typography, a mix of fonts from different genres. With this we wanted to highlight the background of the restaurant's name: there may be different personalities on the roster, but a good roster is ultimately a harmonious unit.
The logo is a combination of a font made for Roster and two ready-made text types. Both typography and text types of the logo have been chosen with respect to the diverse history of the restaurant building. The logo is responsive and playful in different applications.
Illustrations play a major role in the overall look. We used the tattoos of the chefs as the model for the distinctive style of illustration. These illustrations are visible in the entire restaurant design, both in space and in graphic elements.
Shot with a Hasselblad film camera, the staff photos highlight the various personalities of Roster and the attitude of getting things done. The themes for the food pictures were based on the ingredients of the menu.
