Miss Calypso is a cocktail lounge in Brooklyn New York that also serves as a space for artists, musicians, and poets to present their work to the public. The lounge was inspired by the life of Maya Angelou who was a Calypso dancer and singer before she was recognized as a poet.
Category: Business Identity
Software Used: Illustrator
One of the design challenges for this project was creating a compelling logo that represented the business and was true to the artist, Maya Angelou, whom the business was inspired by. Therefore, I reviewed how Calypso music and Blues musicians, as Maya Anglou's poems have been compared to the Blues, are visually represented. I also reviewed many New York City restaurant logos, not pictured here.
In my initial sketches, I tried combining design elements from my research with something that might also identify the business as a cocktail lounge. The adjectives describing the business are welcoming, unique, approachable, fun, and casual.
Using Illustrator, I experimented with the logo's shape, and tried to incorporate wavy lines to symbolize musical rhythm. Ultimately, I wanted to emote something vibrant, with energy.
After many drafts, I went with an image of a glass with waves flowing through it because it received the most positive feedback from my peers and seemed like a succesful visual combination of cocktail imagery and an authentic element attributed to Maya Angelou. I also chose a color pallette that had high contrasting hues; I wanted something that would stand out, like a neon sign that would give the feeling of vibrancy and a lively energy.
