Twilight Fringe

Industry

HOSPITALITY

TYPE

BRAND INTERFACE

COLLAB ID

HND 004

la bete noire

Alejandro Alarcon

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GLANCE TOKEN

Overview

Solidify the concept and establish a dynamic brand identity for a listening bar.

COLLECTION DETAILS

Solidify the concept and establish a dynamic brand identity for a listening bar.

Release ID

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Mint Date

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GETTING AROUND:

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El niñito

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El niñito

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Description 1 que pasa si la hago más larga para que parezca que digo más y mas y mas y mas hasta alla

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Description 1 que pasa si la hago más larga para que parezca que digo más y mas y mas y mas hasta alla

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Description 1 que pasa si la hago más larga para que parezca que digo más y mas y mas y mas hasta alla

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Description 1 que pasa si la hago más larga para que parezca que digo más y mas y mas y mas hasta alla

Digital

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Physical

Nasty Evidence

Sick item

describe me this

Release ID

Y8H0...LQHS

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Physical

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second sick item

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second sick item

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#Commentary

la bete noire is a "hi-fi gastro" located in the grounds of 'Bodegas de Santo Tomás', a 100+ year-old winery-turned-plaza in the city of Ensenada, Mexico. A hi-fi gastro is a bar with really good food by a world-class chef, really good drinks by a world-class bartender and really good music played on high-fidelity vintage speakers by a world-class DJ. Though the latter explanation may indicate snobbery, the intention of the project was the opposite; to bring world-class hospitality to the local scene of a small "gastronomic" city in Mexico.

The Seed

A slow-cooked idea by chef Diego Hernandez that took shape as his fascination for music, his hometown and experiences in bars and restaurants across the world collided into a dream of what a high-fidelity –sonic and gastronomical– experience could look like for the locals in his hometown of Ensenada, Mexico.

We were lucky to witness the evolution of the project, from listening to Diego rant about his dream of having a local listening bar some time in 2017, to participate in early ideation stages in mid 2019 to a year after its launch in 2020. During this time, we exchanged ideas not only with Diego, but with his partners and close collaborators such as Juan González, the resident DJ, bartender Alexandra Purcarú, who designed the cocktail menu, architect Alex Candela, designers Oliver Saavedra and Alejandro Alarcón (HAND) on visual identity duties, amongst many others. la bete noire has become one of our most gratifying projects to work on to date.

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The Goals

Our objectives were to take the overall vision and concept and give them an identity, and although our main contribution was on the side of visuals and digital communications, we also got to help define the general aesthetics of the place as well as aspects of customer service and experience(Alexandra even had us name some of the cocktails!).

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The BRAND

The name 'la bete noire' was coined by Gibrán Huerta, a close friend of Diego. It refers to a french slang for the equivalent of "black sheep", a term most of us are familiar with and that is used as a label for the people who go against the current or are "too weird" or different, but who tend to be the ones who change culture through their art and innovations. Such name is a salute to such people, and for us, it also implied freedom to explore and go a bit off-the-rails on a project that was being carefully crafted.

Diego's vision, his influences and intent – The warmth and depth of Japanese listening bars, the freshness of Tel-Aviv's night scene and cuisine (and their shared regional ingredients thanks to the similarity of the land and climate), with a spark of European bar culture– were well understood by everyone involved, yet the interpretations and gathering of influences from each area (architecture, graphics, cocktails, music) were different, which in turn influenced one another in our respective lines of work.

Though not as linear as it sounds, our process consisted of a series of conversations with everyone involved in the development, considering aspects such as the innate "vibe" of the physical space, how the service would be delivered, the materials being used by the architect and so on. Of course, the usual design-y stuff happened; images were shared, moodboards and compositions were made, and conversations took place.

From the visual identity side, we proposed 3 different visions of what the brand could look and feel. From it, we took the best part from each vision consolidated it into one.

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Important note: These "Stylescapes" are a mix between moodboard and original material, therefore many of the images in here are used as reference and we expicitly state this to our collaborators. We adopted Stylescapes after first discovering with José Caballer and Chris Do from TheSkool/TheFutur and are a useful tool for visualizing identities, like moodboards on steroids.

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If you see your work displayed in one of these compositions. If you see your work here and would like to be credited, please drop us a line.

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--logo goes here--

The bar opened in December 2020, and despite its "pandemic" launch, for a moment, it became "the coolest kid" in town. A successful launch that reflected all the love and care poured into the project by everyone involved in its development, and which we are grateful to have been a part of.

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Alejandro Alarcon

Designer

Ensenada, Mexico

Site/Profile >

Alejandro Candela

Architect

Ensenada, Mexico

Site/Profile >

Alexandra Purcaru

Bartender

Paris, France / Oaxaca, Mexico