Phase I:Initial Search:
-Sublime Doughnuts
-Greene’s Find Foods
-Highland Row Antiques
-Alon’s Bakery
-Hop City Beer
-Morelli’s
-Oxford Comics
-Ali Baba’s Mediterranean
-Rosa’s Pizza
-Charris Books (feminist bookstore)
-Java Lords
-Lil 5 Points Pharmacy
-Bucc’s BBQ (out of business)
-Parkgrounds: Dog Park Café(C-town)
-The Cut: Hair Styling Salon (C-town)
-Wall Crawler Rock Club
-Sweet T Grass Salon
-Candler Park Market
-Dr. Bombay’s Underwater Tea Party
-Kirkwood Bark & Lounge: Doggy Daycare & Boarding
-Bagel Palace
-Burger Joy
-Chef Anthony’s Cuisine
-Hoa Binh Supermarket
-Mo’s Pizza
-Jagger’s Pizza
-Return to Eden: Organic Market
-Alfredo’s
-Rhode’s Bakery
-Taco Cabana
-Waikiki Hawaiian BBQ
-Franco’s
-Perla Taqueria
-Martinez Fine Coffee
-Fat Matt’s BBQ
-Bed Down Furniture Gallery
-Woody’s
-Moto Bravo Motor Scooters
-Eats
-Marco’s Pita
-Plaza Theatre
-Home Grown
-The Book Nook
-R. Thomas
-Value Village Thrift Store
-Walter’s
-Sevananda
-Highland Cigar Co.
-Loose Nuts Cycles
-Dakota Blue
-Blue Frog Cantina
-Feed Your Head Music
-The 529
-Earthshaking Music
-Urban Cottage
-Dave’s Cosmic Subs
-Everybody’s Pizza
-Eagle Eye Bookstore
-Rainbow Natural Foods
-Cozy Burger Town
-Kenley’s
-Krog Bar
-Desta Ethiopian Kitchen
-Little Szechuan
-Evan’s Fine Foods
-Tridia Corp
Phase II:Narrow
-Morelli’s
Pros: I worked here for a long time and am all too familiar with the business. Is the definitive Mom & Pop business as its success has garnered it national recognition as one of the best ice cream shops in the nation, necessitating the opening of a second store in the Edgewood Shopping District. The place is very neighborhood friendly, attracting tons of families to the shopping center. The creativity and originality of the flavors, of which many are delicious Brazilian-American hybrids, makes it a hard choice to look past. The insignia definitely conveys “really good gourmet ice cream”, but it doesn’t tell you how exotic these ice creams are.
Cons: The branding is already very sound; it matches the flavor of the business, which is gourmet deserts. It would be difficult to redesign the logo as it is fine as it is, but I think I could go deeper. I think many gourmet food restaurants keep their branding pretty mundane but still classy, to let the product speak for itself. But then again the product (ice cream) is unlike any other you will find. Period.
Verdict: Definitely in the top three. My familiarity with the brand, the clientele, and the owners makes it a very tough choice to let go, even though in many ways it is an easy choice.
-Oxford Comics
Pros: It’s the biggest and best comic bookstore in Atlanta, and for that matter probably Georgia. It’s branding and logo in NO way describes its products, which spans from mainstream and indie comics to toys, pornographic literature, collectibles, DVD’s, and art books. Oxford Comics was previously part of bookstore chain, which is where its name comes from. This would be a good choice because I collect comics as a hobby and I have been frequenting the store since I was a small child.
Cons: It’s a comic book store. You can find almost any kind of graphic literature under the sun here, but that doesn’t make it a strong enough choice to break my top 3. The type of branding required for a comicbook store is simplistic, kitschy, and very much COMIC oriented. It would be hard to do design work for the company without involving trademarked characters and images.
Verdict: Definitely a no. Too easy of a choice, and one I know I would end up regretting.
-Ali Baba’s
Pros: This is by far my favorite place to eat at on campus. There are two locations: one very small one on Broad Street and a much larger and complete version in Little 5 Points. The largest factor im considering is that it has virtually NO branding for a restaurant with a lot of culture and authenticity.
Cons: Im not sure how much I would be able to “grow” with this brand throughout the semester. A lot of the work would lie in redesigning the logo, and then from there rebrand everything else; which would be really fun-but im not sure if this place is expansive enough for an entire semester of work.
Verdict: Probably not going to be in the top 3, but definitely a runner-up to consider.
-Highland Row Antiques
Pros: I used to live across from the Highland Row and used to wander through this GIANT antique store. There is such an awesome variety of antiques in this place, like most antique stores, but this one in particular seems to have a style that is very “Poncey Highlands”. The logo is dated and could really use some rebranding to say to its patrons how much they’ll like coming in.
Cons: Rebranding an antique store could very quickly become cliché and predictable. This could be a fast track to ending up with a generic and uninspired vintage type treatment for the logo and rebranding scheme, losing the creativity and “freshness” that im really searching for with a brand.
Verdict: Would be fun to rebrand, but not fun enough for the semester.
-Java Lords
Pros: The place is a very cool coffee shop nestled in Little 5 Points. I occasionally get coffee here, but the reason why it made the first cut is because it has very little branding but a lot of culture. This is a good example of a place that would allow me to run with my creativity because this coffee shop’s liberal atmosphere like its surroundings, would allow a lot of room for creative work. Also the place has an awesome name that screams illustration.
Cons: As with a lot of the small local indie establishments in Atlanta, the question I keep running into isint how to rebrand, but should I rebrand. A lot of places like Java Lords look the way they do for a reason, and in turn attract a specific kind of clientele. Rebranding might not be needed for a place like this.
Verdict: Probably not going to make my top 3. Good example of a place that I could go wild with rebranding, but it may be in vain as it is simply a cool indie coffee shop.
-Bagel Palace
Pros: This is an authentic Jewish Bakery and Deli in North East Atlanta that my inlaws own. Getting to know the place and its history would be a no-brainer being that my inlaws would be more than happy to feed me lots of bagels and shmear while explaining their mythos. The food here puts all the other competing Jewish bagel places to shame (Goldberg’s, The Bagel Co., and dare I say Bagelicious) and it is very much a local place with clientele that I know have been going there since before I was born. They also have a bunch of books and magazines in there too. There is very little branding inside and out leaving much room redesign which would correspond directly with its patrons; mostly Jewish bagel-loving folk.
Cons: The fact that my family owns the joint makes it a very quick choice. I would have to spend a lot of time making sure my identity work didn’t end up being overrun with bagels, and I would also have to make sure the logo isint simply a goofy rendering of a palace made out of bagels. Also as with the last brand I would need to question whether or not the restaurant even needs rebranding, as almost all Jewish bagel places look the same inside and out.
Verdict: Definitely in my top 3. Simply can’t look past this place because of my family ties which would allow for lots of research, its lack of branding, and my ability to identify with the culture.
-Bed Down Furniture Gallery
Pros: Has a cool name.
Cons: Only has a cool name.
Verdict: Not gonna make the cut; probably didn’t need to make it to Phase II for that matter….
-Home Grown
Pros: Almost too many to list. I live almost a block away from the place. It’s food is good, hearty, cheap, and good for you (no red meat). It’s a breakfast/lunch place but also doubles has an art gallery and a venue at times. I live in cabbagetown so this would be a place that I could very successfully identify with and be very comfortable with branding. Its clientele is very “C-town” ranging from families, to college kids, to townies alike. The logo matches the place pretty well but could definitely use some bold but tasteful redesign.
Cons: Like Java Lords and the Bagel Palace, the branding of this restaurant matches it quite well, which is very lo-fi. But I don’t think that’s an especially great reason to deter me. There’s so many ways I could go with just the logo; visualizing “Home Grown” would be so much fun and leaves so much room for creativity which matches the places so well in the first place.
Verdict: Definitely in the top 3, and is already a possible number one.
-Walter’s
Pros: The place is the best shoe store in Atlanta hands down and has no branding. It would be very easy to brand this place accordingly in a very urban way.
Cons: I can’t exactly imagine myself being able to grow through out the semester with this brand, nor do I find myself identifying with the brand itself (shoes). Also its simply too easy of a choice and I wouldn’t be able to be truly creative with my designs; only in a superficial, but very fitting way.
Verdict: Definitely a no. But a good candidate for a place that could use some awesome rebranding.
-Kenley’s
Pros: Kenley’s is a really cool southern restaurant nestled at the bottom of the Citizen’s Trust bank on GA State’s campus. The food is really cheap and really greasy and good. Most importantly though, the owner (Kenley) has a picture with LITERALLY every rapper/r&b artist from the past 20 years adorning, or should I say covering the walls. Also there is no branding for a place that could definitely use some.
Cons: There isint a lot of room for creativity on this one.
Verdict: Definitely not in the top 3.
-Earthshaking Music
Pros: This is a music store in EAV that attracted me because of its awesome name and also its awesome imagery painted on the side of the store. Could definitely use some branding with such an awesome name. I would also love to visualize imagery for a music store as im always trying to bridge the gap between art and music, and I know I would have a lot of fun rebranding this place in particular.
Cons: Im not very invested in just a music store, even though I play an instrument.
Verdict: Not in the top 3; just not expansive or interesting enough for me to devote a semester to.
-Desta Ethiopian Kitchen
Pros: I ran across this place as I was sacking NE Atlanta for cool restaurants. It is an authentic Ethiopian restaurant with a very interesting architechtural layout along with intererior. But the logo is very drab along with the branding. I could definitely dive in to rebranding this place as it as the necessary amount of culture im looking for.
Cons: I don’t know how well I would be able to identify with an Ethiopian kitchen. Not out of non-interest, but if I were to choose an ethnic restuaruant Ali Baba’s and the Bagel Palace would definitely precede this place simply out of relativity.
Verdict: Not in the top 3, but definitely a suitable candidate. Will definitely mention this to anyone looking for a place to rebrand.
-The Book Nook
Pros: This is a really cool and expansive used book/cd/comic book store in NE Atlanta. I had to go in when I passed by, and of course ended up spending in hour in the comic book bins. This place is choc-full of treasures and it has, like most used book stores, a really generic and boring branding scheme/logo.
Cons: Like many of the places before me, this place really doesn’t need to be rebranded. Its fine as it is and rebranding would tarnish the “little bookstore in the corner” feel that it screams.
Verdict: A no for the project, but yes for finding used cheap comics.
-Little Szechuan
Pros: Ive been going to this Chinese Restaurant since before I can remember. It is serisouly the best in Atlanta. It’s been rated by so many different publications its ridiculous. It has no branding scheme for print or for its logo, but has all the awesome adornments that any authentic Chinese Food restaurant has.
Cons: Although this place could really use rebranding I don’t think I could invest myself in it enough to last an entire semester. Simply making the type and menu “asian” isn’t enough. The brand chosen must be something I can dive into conceptually, not just on the outermost layer.
Verdict: Not in top 3.
Phase III: The top 3
1. Home Grown
2. Bagel Palace
3. Morelli’s Gourmet Ice Cream
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