PROJECT
Milady’s New York City Branding
SERVICES
BAR BRANDING
WEBSITE DESIGN
MENU DESIGN
CUSTOM ILLUSTRATION
BAR MERCHANDISE DESIGN
The Challenge:
Milady’s, a famed dive-bar in SoHo, operated in the same space for decades before closing down in 2014. It was loved as one of the last old-school watering holes in Manhattan.
When Julie Reiner, daring and influential proprietor in the NYC bar scene, set out to reopen Milady’s in 2022, she knew it had to bring back all the fun the levity of the original—but also offer legit style and swagger of its own. Ms. Reiner noted, “This is a 2.0. So how do we pay homage to what this place was, in 2022 with 2022 SoHo rent?”
Execution:
Instead of just mimicking the original 1970’s aesthetic, we decided to be inspired by the vast range of characters rumored to have haunted the original Milady’s. We got irreverent and punchy—but always fun. We went a bit retro and old-school, but with a much needed post-pandemic pop. Custom hand-illustrated lettering for the wordmark, a series of cheeky cocktail illustrations to play through menus and apparel, and smart type in modern layouts set the stage for the ‘newstalgia’ version of Milady’s.
The old is new, its electrified, and ready to have a good time.
