growing a brand as strong as its historic, hometown roots.

INTRODUCTION

date

2021

team

Valerie Post

The Anchor | Celina, Ohio

Once housing Charlie’s Pastry Shop, The Anchor calls a historic downtown Celina building home. The modern gastropub specializes in elevated foods, rotating hand-selected beers, and craft cocktails. This down-to-earth restaurant and bar embraces the history of Grand Lake Saint Marys, as seen in the design choices throughout the building. The dark and moody exterior adorned with sleek signage and nautical accents invites you inside (or out to the patio) to drop anchor and have a glass.

VIEW THE ANCHOR WEBSITE

APPROACH

The collaboration started when the Revival Team was asked to create an experience, beginning with brand & strategy, architecture & signage, and following the process through with interior selections. Our team had the pleasure of developing a recognizable brand for a much-needed destination to connect with friends and family.

home-brewed creativity

The Anchor was embarking on their maiden voyage, needing a solidified brand — one that communicated the strength of the community they were joining. Our team set off to develop their logo set, typography, and visual identity, focusing on the message of hometown strength and community The Anchor wanted to portray. As we continued to build out their brand, we uncovered references and nods to the history of the area — paying homage to the Grand Lake Region.

We began with a simplistic logomark, sharp and steady like the business they were building, paired with a signature that became highly recognizable throughout the community. Revival pushed forward defining a primary set of colors to coordinate with their industrial and nautical interiors and a neutral base color of black. The secondary palette added a splash of color to the accents in an otherwise simplistic color palette. From there, Revival developed a visual identity system that helped establish the historic artwork featured throughout the space.

RATIONALE

small town collaborations

As their journey began, The Anchor partnered with our friends at Moeller Brew Barn to develop a craft beer for the grand opening of their restaurant. Our designers collaborated to bring the can design to life – ensuring the label contained all the information necessary to sell the beer while having an on-brand design for “The Anchor’s Maiden Voyage”.

branding on the go 

Wearing a brand has never been so easy. Various designs were built with the idea of seamlessly merchandising them onto items for the customer to take with them. Apparel of all kinds, including t–shirts, sweatshirts, and tank tops can be found for sale, along with custom–designed logo hats and stickers. 

branded environments

With the visual identity established, Revival set off to bring brand recognition to the exterior of the old Charlie’s Pastry Shop. Our team began by designing window graphics to announce the coming of the new restaurant to downtown Celina. These graphics provided the public with a teaser of the business while providing privacy during the construction process.

From there, our designers coordinated with signage vendors to produce a sleek, illuminated marquee sign, mounted to the upper white facade of the historic building. To draw the attention of foot traffic pedestrians, a lower, protruding sign of the logomark was created, and anchored to the existing column.

As patrons enter the restaurant, they are greeted with a custom mural of Grand Lake St. Marys — highlighting the well-known landmarks in the region. After several rounds of gathering community input, the best areas on Grand Lake were decided upon and included in the graphic you see today. This work of art not only makes a statement visually but allows for sound dampening with its acoustic properties – aiding in keeping the noise level down. 

RESULTS

Whether you’re grabbing a burger, a beer, or their cool and zesty “Anchor Sauce”, you will feel welcome and relaxed in this downtown restaurant and bar. Designed with the intention to build strong roots, and serve as a community gathering space, The Anchor invites you in with its strong and distinct branding that pays homage to its Lakefront hometown.