PRP Graphics designs new Galvin Restaurant identity

Created on 08.01.2010

PRP Graphics, the graphic design and visualization team at leading architects PRP, has launched its stand alone graphic design offer with the creation of a new identity and suite of logos for Galvin Restaurants.

Galvin is launching a new flagship restaurant in a converted Grade II listed chapel in Spitalfields London and in the adjoining building will also open the first of a planned chain of contemporary all day cafes. PRP Graphics was asked to create identities for both the restaurant and the café and to rationalize the existing restaurant identities into a coherent suite of logos.

Lester Clark, who leads the PRP Graphics team, explains the creative thought train behind the new identities: “The chosen names for the both the restaurant and the café chain became apparent almost immediately we started working with the Galvin team. The fine dining restaurant, which is set to fast become an ultimate destination for London dining, will open in a beautifully converted chapel with a vaulted ceiling and the cuisine will be primarily French. The Galvin brothers have a long standing relationship with Paul Jaboulet Aine, one of the world’s greatest wine producers and makers of the legendary wine, Hermitage La Chapelle. The link to, and offerings from the impressive wine list was such an important part of the experience, it seemed wrong to consider anything other than “La Chapelle” for the restaurant’s name.

“The café’s name fell into place very quickly. The Galvin brothers run the award winning Bistrot de Luxe in Baker Street and bringing the brand equity built up through the Bistrot to the new café chain led inevitably to the creation of “Café de Luxe”.

“The identity for La Chapelle reflects the curved flourishes and elegant details that are carved into the walls of the building, with the inclusion of a cross above the 'p' which graphically references the famous chapel that sits atop the Paul Jaboulet Aine vineyard in the Rhone valley - where the grapes for Hermitage La Chapelle are grown. The hand drawn script represents the unique one-off nature of a signature fine dining restaurant and sits below the existing Galvin logo.

“For the café identity, we took as the key elements the most iconic image of a continental pavement café, the striped awning and then married this with the simple upper case typography found in so many French café identities. Containing the graphic treatment in a square block gives robustness to the identity and running the location underneath makes it totally transferable to other sites as they open.”

In addition to the identities, the brief from Galvin extended to all stationery, menus, branded crockery, placemats, water bottles, advice on signage and the creation of a clear brand hierarchy for the Group.

The Galvin Restaurants’ work is the first to be completed under the PRP Graphics brand and signals the new independence of the PRP Graphics team. With the Galvin launch successfully under way the team is currently working on its next project with The Department of Health and will be launching its own graphics and model-making section on the www.prparchitects.co.uk website in February 2010.

Galvin La Chapelle and Café De Luxe opened for business on 18th November 2009.