
enter awards
Category Winner
2023
The Parlor Menu, The Dead Rabbit
CATEGORY
Editorial + Print Design
Communication Design
CONTRIBUTORS
External Collaborators
Photographer: Simon Hutchinson (Studio Kin)
Videographer: Pete Laverty (Studio Kin)
Printer: Plus Print
Design Challenge and Design Ideas
Inspired by the Ireland of today, we set out to champion the modern Irish maker throughout our partnership with The Dead Rabbit.
In 2013, The Dead Rabbit opened with a goal to bring the Irish Pub into the 21st Century. Now, the pub pays tribute to the time-honoured tradition of Irish hospitality while also looking ahead to the future. Or, as The Dead Rabbit likes to say â Tradition, Meet Tomorrow. Inside the menu is a collection of cocktails that draws inspiration from people, places, and stories – in Ireland, and the rest of the world too. Each section is based on the traditional classics known and loved, with a contemporary version that represents the road that lies ahead. The dedicated cocktail menu was made to be the centrepiece of experience at the Parlor, featuring illustrations of each cocktail and the ingredients of each recipe.
SLĂINTE!
How the brief was fulfilled
Rooted by âTradition, Meet Tomorrow,â the Parlor Menu is built to showcase a love of the print craft and create an experience for guests. A landscape menu book in a magnetic clamshell close structured box captures a curated elegance. Echoing Irish history, debossed foil type sits on the linen fabric covered box front and spine, enclosing a screwpost bound menu. A keepsake passport sized insert sits in a pocket of the lined inner cover, for guests to treasure. Rich natural tones of the terracotta linen and foil compliment the green, white, yellow and brown inner pages of the menu. GF Smith, Gmund Bier card used for the menu pages is made using chlorine-free pulp and spent brewerâs grain. The flecks of grain create a hint of texture and colour on each page. With FSC certification and 75% of the energy to produce this card using regenerative energy, sustainability was considered in the menuâs composition.
Storytelling is portrayed throughout the menuâs detail of each cocktail and echoed in the style of illustration. The loose hand drawn pen and charcoal sketches feel like note making in an artistâs sketchbook representing âTradition,â paired with marker colour fill representing âTomorrow.â The energetic lines in the illustration emulate the fine lines and serifs found throughout the menu type. Small illustrations of core ingredients of the recipe surround each cocktail, furthering the visual narrative of the menu. The painterly sketch style illustrations capture each cocktail with artistry that reflects the art of the cocktail recipe itself.
"
Beautifully crafted and each detail in the storytelling looks nuanced and purposeful. Each element in this piece has been carefully crafted and executed beautifully. Rich and characterful, considers the brand’s personality and heritage, while embodying a premium experience. There’s a care and attention to detail that infuses this entry â it’s an object you’d want to pick up and flick through.
"JUDGES' THOUGHTS