A new logotype for Paige Craig Photography.
Colorola has created a new logo for Los Angeles photographer, Paige Craig, and we’re stoked about it. Paige’s Farm Her photography seems somehow analog, as if her sun drenched images were developed in a deep-red-lit darkroom— and then dipped in honey. She’s our darlin urban farm girl, natural and naughty in one. Photographer Paige Craig has allowed us to design her sexy new identity… we’ve now begun work on... Read More
Geoskope Brand Design
Senzari Brand Design
Vivimos Para la Música The Senzari brand experience, currently targeted to the Latin American audience, is defined by much more the the virtual entertainment it provides. The engaging brand imagery, the proficiency and intuitiveness of the program, the ability to seemlessly extend the service across platforms are all important aspects of the design chanlleng, and can greatly impact the Senzari brand experience. Communicating the advantages and... Read More
GatorWire Brand Design
Bayou Tech Savvy The nefarious realm of the swamp— dark, mystifying, and strangely alluring. The wetter parts of the Deep South have always induced a spell, and the dark charms of the mire have forever captivated the darker provinces of the American Gothic. From the vast untamed expanse of the Everglades to the creole mojo of the Mississippi delta, the swampland evokes a sense of intrigue and menace. The stealth overlord of this soggy domain... Read More
Hatquarters Branding
Heading for Spain Like an international symbol, the highly representational, ‘Hat Icon’ for Hatquarters has created instant recognition for the Barcelona hat retailers. Name-recogintion, however, is merely part of the story. In today’s media-driven marketplace, the ability of a brand’s image to applicably traverse varying platforms and applications is also vital. From online banner ads to point-of -sale, mobile phone icons to printed... Read More
Hatquarters
Heading for Spain Like an international symbol, the highly representational, ‘Hat Icon’ for Hatquarters has created instant recognition for the Barcelona hat retailers. Name-recognition, however, is merely part of the story. In today’s media-driven marketplace, the ability of a brand’s image to applicably traverse varying platforms and applications is also vital. From online banner ads to point-of -sale, mobile phone icons to printed... Read More
El Camino Rurál
Wine Country Values With the international success of Maians, the Spanish designer Alfonso De La Fuente Rey is now expanding the casual footwear line north to Rioja. For centuries, the Spanish region La Rioja, situated 830 kilometers northwest of Barcelona, has provided some of the world’s most superb wines. Artisan traditions abound in the region where the elegance of the vintage is matched only by the rugged industry of the land. In fact,... Read More
Maians Rebranding
A Natural Fit: Making Maians The Maians brand story starts at the ‘fabrica’. With a unique approach to manufacturing that eschews automation and synthetics, instead combining natural raw material and artisan knowhow to create a superior product. Each pair of Maians is hand-made in Spain, and the fine quality achieved by an elaborate, detailed fabrication is why we’ve adopted as our chief slogan : 100% Hecho a Mano en España. We updated... Read More
Senzari
Colorola created the Brand ID for an innovative new radio ap designed specifically for Latin America and the US Latin American audience (and those that love them). Read More →
Urbano Pizza Bar
Known for their deftly designed interiors, unique locations, and capable management, the venues that comprise the collective portfolio of William Shamlian and Michael Leko are a testament to their hard work and thorough knowledge of the restaurant and bar industry. With over 40 years of combined experience, Shamlian and Leko, ACME Bar Group and Amalgamated Pubs Inc. respectively, place an emphasis on the details. Their latest venture, Urbano... Read More
CoffeeBar
CoffeeBar Downtown Los Angeles Sometimes the simplest solutions are indeed the best. The owners of CoffeeBar wanted a minimal Brand ID that was nevertheless distinctive and functional. With plans to expand the franchise to other urban locations, we created a color-code that will change for each local. View the CoffeeBarLA brand story. Read More →
Spring St. Bar
Colorola’s Auxiliary Office Since it opened a little over a year ago, Spring St Bar in downtown Los Angeles has been the preferred, uh, conference room for the Colorola team. Research and development have been the mainstays of our Spring St business meetings, with many a deal struck in the warm, amber glow of an Arrogant Bastard. To produce this fine establishment’s online brand presence was an edifying experience for us – and as... Read More
Post & Beam Restaurant
Eats Coming Together Post & Beam is a new restaurant in the Baldwin Hills district of Los Angeles. Colorola has created the brand ID, and all visual aspects of Govind Armstrong’s foodie haven Read More >> Read More →
Post & Beam
The Chef of Baldwin Hills A new home for famed chef Govind Armstrong in Baldwin Hills takes its name very architecturally. Post & Beam framing, though an ancient method of building, was revived most ardently during the mid-twentieth century in order to provide the openness and transparency that largely defined Modern architecture. The method allowed architects to eliminate the need for thick supporting walls and to allow for greater space between... Read More
Urbano Pizza Bar
“Pizza is a lot like sex. When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” – Mel Brooks The people that created LA’s Library Bar, Spring Street Bar, Los Feliz and Spitzer’s Corner in NYC are now putting their impeccable tastes in the pizza oven (wood-fired, of course). Acme Bar Group and Amalgamated Pubs Inc, William Shamlian and Michael Leko respectively, are known on both... Read More
Clique-Clique
I prefer drawing to talking. Drawing is faster, and leaves less room for lies. – Le Corbusier One of the chief arguments against modernism, whether it be in art, design, architecture or literature, has been that it was elitist– and that regardless of the virtuous aspirations of its practitioners, the Modern failed to mollify the masses. But what of the resurgence of Modern style? Since the end of the last century, and well into this one,... Read More
CoffeeBar
The details are not the details. They make the design. – Charles Eames An instantly discernible title like ‘Coffee Bar’, or more precisely, ‘CoffeeBar’, can be a persuasive means to attract a local audience to a well-designed and otherwise completely original cafe venue. The name, CoffeeBar, is not necessarily unusual, but it is intuitive and no-nonsense– and visually, we believe that the branding should be the same. A superbly crafted,... Read More
Pizza Metropolita
Urbano Pizza Bar, the creation of Acme Pubs, who’ve also brought us the Library Bar, CoffeeBar, and the Spring Street Bar, is opening up next month at 6th and Hope in LA, and they’ve let us create not one but 4 pizza boxes… we wanna make a fort out of them. Read More →
Backstage at Coachella
I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of Coachella, the music festival. I prefer my acts to perform on one stage rather than several at the same time. I’m also more comfortable in the rolling greens of Glastonbury, for example, than the scorching stretch of desert just east of Palm Springs. Actually, I’m more comfortable in Palm Springs, lounging by the pool of, say, an A. Quincy Jones retreat– replete with with all the... Read More
Indigo Raw releases its 10th single
The Barcelona dance label, Indigo Raw, is about to unleash their 10th release, Retrac’s Lost (Myself) ep, with remixes from Paris dj/producer, Djebali, known for his popular Freak n’ Chic night at Batofar, the fabulous floating night club on the Seine. From the beginning, Colorola has designed the look and packaging for Indigo, working with the label’s founder, Barcelona dj/producer Mirus Loewe. Mirus will be in LA for the single’s... Read More
Hatquarters
Heading to Spain HatQuarters, the Barcelona-based hat retailer and distributor gets a head with new branding by Colorola. View the HatQuarters brand story. Read More →
Hatquarters
Animal Instinct
Audio Animal, a new Los Angeles recording project created by local dj/producers Oodee and Malio, is attempting to secure quick online presence for their wide selection of dance tracks. They want to elicit a style that’s unique and unpredictable, as well as a brand image that’s ample enough to encompass a wide array of musical genres from dance to indie to experimental soundtracks and ambient. With the preponderance of digital downloading,... Read More
Giving more face (of the world).
Here’s the main image for LATC’s Face of the World, aka, their Fall season. I feel like the Historic Core, as it’s been designated by downtown LA booster types, saw it’s heyday just around the Wall Street Crash of 29. With the exception of a few New Deal building constructed for civic aims, the late 20′s was when all construction pretty much halted. So the neighborhood around Spring, Main and Broadway between 2nd... Read More
Face of the World
The LATC’s fall season, Face of the World starts in September, which means we’ve got to go to print with the collateral last week. Keeping the posters very title-centric, which might prove to be a more attractive solution than the time consuming illustrations that I had planned to do. I’m going to try out that ‘less is more’ thing. These are the first two production posters, 6 more to go. #gallery-3 { margin:... Read More
Wallpaper* Magazine
The Accidental Illustrator In 1996, in the east village of Manhattan, there was a fab restaurant called Global 33. The theme was ‘airline chic’, and the decor evoked a business class lounge at, say, the Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, but when the airport was called simply Galeão, say in the 60′s (if, of course, there had been business class in the 60′s). Colorola’s Stuart Patterson, being... Read More
The Music Box
A Renaissance in Tenseltown Thanks to a jaw-dropping interior restoration and redesign, spearheaded by artist/designer, Roy Nachum, the Music Box has recaptured its original grandeur. It has also been re-equipped with state-of-the-art light and sound, and is now irrefutably one of the most extraordinary live venues in the world. Originally constructed in 1926 by vaudeville impresario, Carter DeHaven, the Music Box has a remarkable past. We... Read More
Sensis Agency
Sensis Working Overtime Focus Multimedia, founded in 1998, was a fast-growing online advertising agency, whose 20th century moniker had become superannuated. They first approached Colorola to create a new logo design, using only the initials, FM, thus disposing of the rather dated ‘multimedia’ component. After presenting the first round of logotype directions, it became evident that the streamlined ‘FM’ icon begged the... Read More
Indigo Raw
Indigo-Go Home to the Sónar festival and seemingly 1000′s of kilometers of dance floor, Barcelona is practically the Nashville of dance music. Along with other European disco-meccas like London, Berlin, Paris and Ibiza, Barcelona is a city teeming with innovative djs and performers, all vying for lucrative club engagements and top positioning on Beatport. Mirus Loewe’s Indigo Raw imprint is a key player with several club events around... Read More
Galactic Mantis
Pop Wars As technology and games continue to proliferate the virtual firmament, greater threats to video game security and competitive frameworks are an inexorable result. The multi-billion dollar industry, one of the fastest growing in the world, is still quite volatile, and the need for tightened security in all sectors, at all development stages is vital. Galactic Mantis, a games security company in Viet Nam, is at the forefront of gaming security... Read More
The Los Angeles Theatre Center
Priority Records
Ain’t Nut’in But a Logo Colorola was honored to have designed the official 25th Anniversary logo for Priority Records, the groundbreaking LA label, headed by Snoop Dogg. The logo emblazons all special releases and commemorative editions, including a sampler, compiled by Snoop Dogg which accompanies his new release, ‘Malice in Wonderland’. Selections from Priority artists, like N.W.A, Eazy-E, Mack 10, Westside Connection,... Read More
Naked Music
The (Un)Covers They now seem like relics from a different time (and not just because of their slightly 70′s bent). The 90′s literally were the end of an era, though at the time we simply thought of them as the un-80′s, when sensuality, color, sex, good vibes and good highs all seemed to convene on the dance floor. House music reached its peak then (though some argue that the proverbial beat goes on), and from San Francisco to... Read More
Travers Real Estate
Commercial Real Estate in San Francisco is all High Profile. Colorola designed an elaborate collateral and brand system for the San Francisco offices of LA commercial real estate company, Travers. The objective was partly to emphasize the advantages of an established firm like Travers – one with a consummate track record, and a unique, proven way of doing business. Additionally we aimed to demonstrate a penchant for style and proficiency–... Read More
Priority Records
Colorola designed the 25th Anniversary logo for Priority Records, Snoop Dogg’s pioneering gangsta imprint. With and entire year of promotions and events celebrating the milestone, Snoop wanted an icon that was straightforward and uncluttered, yet distinctly commemorative. He also wanted to us integrate the original Priority Records logo, and to provide several different formats and colors for various media platforms. Read More →
Sensis
In addition to providing the name-change and concept, Colorola created the brand ID and logotype for this fast-growing Los Angeles digital-centric advertising agency, Sensis. Working closely with the agency’s creatives and management, we explored many themes, colors, fonts, and styles. The ability to apply effects and animation was important, but the icon also had to function as a static symbol across numerous media platforms. The notion... Read More
Naked Music
Naked Music Brand ID Two ID’s really. The label’s manager, Bruno Ybarra thought we should have a back-up in case the ‘naked chick’ didn’t work out. And though the Naked Music illustrated logo created a huge sensation with the global club crowds, the ‘Muni NM’ logo was a vital visual asset for the brand. Having two functioning logos helped to distinguish certain types of releases, and gave us double the... Read More
Custo Barcelona
La Vida Cosmopolatina It was at Magic in Vegas, 1997 that Stuart Patterson (principal of Colorola) met los hermanos Custo. They were familiar with the work he had done for Wallpaper* as well as his nightclub graphics for Twilo and Sound Factory in New York. Custo was known at the time as Custo Line, an awkward English phrasing that the Catalans hoped would provide a bit of US market leverage for their brand of high end t-shirts. Stuart recommended... Read More
Giant Los Angeles
They Might be Giant Since January 1st, 2000, Giant has been producing some of the largest New Year’s Eve parties in the world. They also produce a weekly Saturday night dance club in Hollywood (currently installed at the gigantic venue, Avalon) and various other large-scale events in Las Vegas, San Diego, Newport Beach, and Miami. They are the West Coast exemplar of mainstream electronic dance music (for the 21-35 year-old crowd), and Colorola... Read More
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Commie Get It While the Walt Disney Concert Hall has a most adept in house art department that creates perfectly proficient collateral for the LA Phil and friends, the marketing team decided to think out of the box when promoting an experimental concert, Pravda, that featured a diverse roster of contemporary musicians and djs interpreting the music of Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, and with Dvotchka, Russian folk music from the Stalinist era, demonstrating... Read More
The Music Box
Hollywood Sequel Evoking the decadent history of this 1926 Hollywood theater, Colorola created a custom crest, and refashioned it with an asymmetrical placement of the name in a bold san-serif font, Berthold Akzidenz Gothic. Additionally, we provided the venue with a deco themed logotype, also consistent with it’s history. This auxiliary ID is used in tandem with the Classic crest, or as a stand-alone when the Victorian motif is overly... Read More
Travers San Francisco
There are stark contrasts between the way business is conducted in the vast entertainment capital of LA, and the overtly innovative yet comparatively refined Bay Area. In spite of the numerous shared customs and traits of both cities, the northerners generally expect a bit more polish, and the Angelinos want more flash. Perhaps it’s Colorola’s dual citizenship (Principal, Stuart Patterson is from SF) that helped us determine a unique identity... Read More
The Music Box
Evoking Hollywood’s Golden Age, but with an edge, Colorola has created a new brand ID for the recently revamped Music Box in the heart of Hollywood. This ornate theater functions as a state-of-the-art live venue and nightclub. The hedonistic events, surreal interior designed by Roy Nachum, and notorious Hollywood past, inspired us to create a brand system that reifies the mystique and grandeur of this extraordinary California landmark. ... Read More
Avalon Hollywood
Hollywood Nights After a multi-million dollar renovation of the infamous Palace Theater at Hollywood and Vine, Colorola designed the sexy and versatile brand system for its new moniker: Avalon. We took elements of the main venue’s logo to create a separate yet consistent ID for its Saturday night dance party, Avaland. Read More →
Hillview Hollywood
A Hollywood Vamp, Revamped Once owned by Charlie Chaplin, the Hillview has a star-studded, storied past. Built by Samuel Goldwyn in 1917, the building was intended as studio housing for the Famous Players-Lasky Company, the silent studio that eventually became Paramount. Valentino ran a speakeasy in the ornate hideaway just below street level, Viola Dana was a notorious resident, as well as May West. We wanted to create an identity that is evocative... Read More
Avalon
Brand New Dance After a multi-million dollar transformation of the former Limelight in Manhattan, the Bostonian owners of Avalon set their sites on the west coast, and a complete renovation of the popular Palace Theater near Hollywood and Vine. The Palace, according to the many at the time, had become synonymous with the area’s ‘decline’, and a brand change was just as vital to the venue’s renewal as the remodeling of the... Read More
Naked Music Recordings
Nude Kid in Town Naked Music NYC was the nom de plume for producer Jay Denes’ 1998 release on San Francisco’s Om Records. Om’s label manager at the time, Bruno Ybarra had asked Stuart Patterson (principal, Colorola) to submit an idea for the cover. The image, a graphic illustration of a ‘sexy, racially-vague, young nubile, in a seductive pose’ was deemed too literal, and instead, OM’s in-house devised a more ‘cerebral’... Read More
OhLaLa Mag
Le Gay Presse Dedicated to beauty, art, and freedom of expression, OhlalaMag is an internationally acclaimed online gay fashion magazine and photograph journal, conceived in Paris, but based in Hollywood. Read More →
Avalon Hollywood
Hollywood & Vine If Hollywood is the world’s entertainment capital, then Avalon is the Royal Palace. Formally the sound stage for Jerry Lewis’ live television broadcasts, the extraordinarily well-preserved landmark near Hollywood and Vine faces the Capital Records building, and is the location of choice for many of the world’s top performers. The imposing Spanish Empire structure functions as a live venue for sellout performances,... Read More
Carolina Herrera
Carolina by Carolina Herrera Colorola created the packaging and an individual gift package for the introduction of Carolina, a woman’s fragrance by Carolina Herrera. Consistent with the delicate bouquet of the fragrance, we produced a series of subtle, pastel product renderings for the collateral, as well as a custom title script for use in the opulent print brochure, reproduced for the international buyers’ market in English, German,... Read More
BMW
Four Wheels Stuart Patterson created a series of vintage style illustrations evocative of mid-century Jamaica to be used in catalogs, point of sale, and promotion. Read More →
EMI Records
Solar’s 30th Anniversary Series Stuart Patterson was commissioned to design and illustrate special commemorative CDs for the 30th anniversary of the legendary LA Soul label, Solar. For the ‘Ultimate Collection,’ Stuart created illustrated packaging for classic recording artists, Shalimar, Midnight Star, and Lakeside. Read More →
Moët et Chandon
Bottle Service Working with British Esquire, Stuart Patterson illustrated several lifestyle images for the Moet et Chandon UK Bar Guide. Read More →
Antonio Miro
Barcelona’s Most Dapper Designer Antonio Miro is a Barcelona clothing designer with a reputation for clean lines and an austere color palate. We truncated our normally elaborate, illustrative style to deliver a refined and decidedly austere logotype. Read More →
