Glasfurd & Walker

Since their establishment in 2007, Vancouver based studio Glasfurd & Walker have built a reputation for creating thoughtful identities, particularly in the restaurant and hospitality industries. To find out more about them, we had a chat with one of their founders, Phoebe Glasfurd.

EM How did you and Aren come to starting a studio together?

PG We had worked together in another agency in Sydney before moving to Vancouver and founding Glasfurd & Walker. We find we make a good team, with each of us taking on different roles and responsibilities. We share common values, aesthetics and goals. We have very different ways of thinking which compliment and juxtapose each other to create a good relationship.

Previously, we worked in moving image and were at a stage where we wanted to expand the mediums and industries in which we worked.

EM Would you say the studio has evolved since you began in 2007?

PG The studio has certainly evolved in that we have developed a clear niche, refined our processes and established a definite point of view. For the first five years it was just the two of us, and over the past five years, we’ve developed into a small, talented team of six people.

EM What do you feel are the advantages of having a small team?

PG A small team allows us flexibility, quality control and attention to detail – giving a more personal and detailed approach to projects overall. We can be selective about the projects we take on and make sure we’re taking on projects for the right reasons. Making sure that we believe in the client’s brand, their offer and their vision.

EM What informed the typography used throughout the No. 1 Gaoler’s Mews identity?

PG There were two things that influenced the typographic choices: history and luxury. No. 1 Gaoler’s Mews is located in one of Vancouver’s most historic neighbourhoods. It’s housed within a quaint, cobblestone courtyard that was the site of the city’s first courthouse and jail before it burned down in Vancouver’s great fire of 1886.

Gaoler’s Mews is reputed to be haunted by ghostly apparitions, including a mysterious woman in black who glides along the passageway. We wanted to reflect this history in the type choice whilst also creating a luscious and sleek identity that was worthy of the $250 per head price ticket that each dinner commands. We felt that Adult Antiqua by Helsinki Type Studio was a perfect choice.

EM Can you give us an insight into your process when working on a new identity?

PG Before starting on any work we build a world in which the identity lives. If there’s an existing interior we include that, we find inspiration for all places — music, art, architecture and fashion, movies etc.

We work hard on defining the mood and feeling that should be encapsulated before any design work is done, that almost gives us a measurable identity to drive decisions.

EM What informed the typography used throughout the No. 1 Gaoler’s Mews identity?

PG There were two things that influenced the typographic choices: history and luxury. No. 1 Gaoler’s Mews is located in one of Vancouver’s most historic neighbourhoods. It’s housed within a quaint, cobblestone courtyard that was the site of the city’s first courthouse and jail before it burned down in Vancouver’s great fire of 1886.

Gaoler’s Mews is reputed to be haunted by ghostly apparitions, including a mysterious woman in black who glides along the passageway. We wanted to reflect this history in the type choice whilst also creating a luscious and sleek identity that was worthy of the $250 per head price ticket that each dinner commands. We felt that Adult Antiqua by Helsinki Type Studio was a perfect choice.

EM Can you give us an insight into your process when working on a new identity?

PG Before starting on any work we build a world in which the identity lives. If there’s an existing interior we include that, we find inspiration for all places — music, art, architecture and fashion, movies etc.

We work hard on defining the mood and feeling that should be encapsulated before any design work is done, that almost gives us a measurable identity to drive decisions.

EM Why did you decide to use vintage Italian cinema as a reference for the design of the Di Beppe brand?

PG Italian restaurant branding and graphic design often has a stereotypical, cliched approach – even when it’s well executed. Being inspired by cinema allowed us to break away from that. There’s a passion and intensity in which food and cinema have a link.

EM If you could only show one piece of work, what would it be?

PG The neon sign designed for Boa Bei. This is significant and special for a number of reasons – it was the first restaurant we worked on in Vancouver, so it is sentimental. The neon sign was the first new neon installed in historic Chinatown for many years – despite it once being a place filled with grand and iconic signs. A City of Vancouver grant that supports new neon signs in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside helped fund the installation. The sign is inspired by an old-world commercial design for Chinese medicine packaging, an extension of owner Tannis Ling’s vision for the restaurant to bring together the old and new. The story sign now holds a place in the Museum of Vancouver’s permanent neon exhibition, that tells the story of Vancouver’s big city lights of the 1950s, 60s, 70s to the current day.

EM Is there anything that you are currently fascinated by, that is influencing you a lot?

PG We’ve really been delving deeper into typography and type design – we’ve been working more closely with typographers and coders to create custom fonts for projects; pushing ourselves further in this area.

I’m also falling in love with Japanese design again. I lived there for a period of time years ago and visited again last year. It renewed my love for the culture, the attention to detail and approach to design.

Glasfurd & Walker