Papillon is a Southeast Asian bar and restaurant, serving Manila’s most adventurous characters who aren't afraid of being caught at the scene red-handed. Papillon transports guests to a tropical hideaway; an intimate den where they can rest easily and explore the culinary treasures the region has to offer.

Mild Side partnered with the brand owners, Chefs Fonso and RJ, to create an identity inspired by vintage contrast in Southeast Asia during the 1890s–1920s. There was a sense of secrecy and cleverness seared into the brand, as if dining at the restaurant made you a part of ‘the gang’. We designed several versions of their logo versions to create a feeling of myth and long history, and curated a selection of typefaces and colors that expressed the character of the period, hinting at a bit of quiet opulence and cheeky humor with the use of gold accents, ornamental borders, and custom illustration.

Overall, this was an exciting exercise in storytelling and cramming six typefaces into a brand and making it work.

Milanese-born restaurateur Edoardo Mantelli’s latest project was driven by his infatuation with the Viennese-style cafes of fin-de-siècle Milan, where heated exchanges about the origins of the Negroni were cooled by a refreshing Spritz (Campari, per favore, not Aperol). Our branding for Saraghina Caffè is a loving tribute to the grace and grandeur of these institutions, with their rich heritage and passionate hand-gesture conversations.

Within the art nouveau landscape, we looked to early 1900s illustrators like Alphonse Mucha and Secessionist artists such as Koloman Moser. The creative process was loose and adaptive. Furniture, stained glass, and sculpture inspired the border treatments, and more graphic historical posters from some of the greats of their time (Leopoldo Metlicovitz, Adolfo Hohenstein and Giovanni Maria Matalon) informed the spirit of the custom, single-weight display typeface.

Website detail featuring Jacopo Mediaeval NF for text, with Plaak 3 Pradel and Sweet Gothic for headings and navigation

Type specimen for the custom Saraghina

Menu featuring Polliwog for headings and Roslindale Text for text.

Shop sign in the Saraghina typeface, with Sweet Gothic for the address

The UC Women’s Leadership Conference is an annual gathering of 500+ diverse students from across ten University of California campuses joined together with leading professionals, activists, and change-makers in a variety of fields. Focusing on leadership, empowerment, advocacy, networking, and intersectionality, the conference comprises keynote speeches and breakout sessions.

The brand identity for the 2019 edition seeks to bridge the dialogue between aesthetics of femininity and feminism, which was achieved through the marriage of a sans serif and script typeface. A balanced color palette was curated to evoke a sense of warmth and strength, while the merchandise is accented with playful graphics for contrast.

Buds is a woman-owned floral design company, founded by Kayla Gould. Based in Boston, Budsoffer one-of-a-kind floral compositions for events.

The typefaces used on the website are IvyPresto for headlines and Degular for text. The navigation is set in Sweet Gothic.