Sardinewinkel.nl identity and website
A brand identity for the Dutch fish store, Sardinewinkel.nl, designed by Studio Ludo.
It features a combination of the all-caps Brooks Type, designed by Adelmo Cabello in 2016, and Guravo Regular (“MAKREEL”), designed by a rather shady entity, 128bit Technologies. I find it funny that Brooks Type reportedly “contains 54 beautifully designed characters,” if you can believe it. Since that obviously isn’t sufficient for all branding and communication purposes, on the website, the two aforementioned typefaces are supplemented by Voltaire, designed in 2011 by Yvonne Schüttler.
Using Guravo to set just one of the words is a curious choice, and I can’t discern the logic behind that. Both typefaces are also of dubious quality, and the resulting typography could use some kerning—which would at least fix some of their issues.
Yet the naive approach to typography—in combination with a pleasant, retro color palette and nice fish illustrations—results in a no-nonsense brand that echoes early 20th-century aesthetics and a literal approach to marketing. I can barely keep my eyes away from this brand—whether due to its aesthetics or the intrigue it invokes for me.
