The Whisky Café is a stylish restaurant and bar in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, combining a modern dining experience with the character of a historic building dating back to the 1400s.

Big Bear Creative was brought in ahead of launch to develop the brand identity and supporting materials, helping the team reposition the venue from its former life as a traditional pub into a more distinctive and elevated dining destination.

We recently had the pleasure of developing the brand identity for The Whisky Café, a stylish, relaxed restaurant & bar offering modern, versatile dining with globally inspired menus.

They approached Big Bear to build an authentic, relatable brand, that would put them on the map as "the" place to go for those seeking as elevated dining experience across the region.

The Whisky Café team were restoring a well-known historic venue, dating back to the 1400s, and introducing a new modern dining concept to the venue.With the building previously being run as a pub for many years, they needed to manage any preconceptions their target audience may have, and were keen to establish a strong brand and local following prior to opening to ensure a successful launch.

Great brands are build upon solid foundations. Our comprehensive branding process allows us to build brands with impact that resonate with their audiences.

Research & Brand Strategy

To truly understand what would be unique about the experience at The Whisky Café, we began with initial conversations delving into the owners' inspirations and defined their target audience. We also reviewed the restaurant concept work which had already been completed, along with the renovation and interior design concepts.

Using the insights gained we created The Whisky Café's Brand Messaging, building on the existing concept work to realise their vision.

Visual Identity

Our goal was to create a visually striking brand identity, that would reflect The Whisky Café's brand strategy, elevated dining experience, luxurious interiors, and heritage setting.

Before moving into the design stage, we worked on mood boards with the client to agree on a clear design direction, that would ensure the visual identity would reflect them authentically and resonate with their target audience.

We developed the brand, exploring the design elements that would surround the logo to build the visual identity. We then packaged these up into a comprehensive Brand Guidelines document to ensure The Whisky Café would be consistently represented through all their communications upon launch.

For brand launch, we set up The Whisky Café with branded designs for their menus, gift cards, signage, event invitations as well as creating branded templates so certain items that would be produced in-house, making it easy to keep everything on brand.

The outcome of the project was a cohesive and compelling brand identity that positioned The Whisky Café as a sophisticated and desirable dining destination. Through a thorough strategic and creative process, Big Bear Creative successfully transformed public perception of the historic venue, helping the owners move beyond its former identity as a traditional pub.

The final brand captured the restaurant's luxurious interiors, rich heritage, and elevated dining concept, and was launched with a full suite of branded materials and guidelines. This strong, authentic brand presence ensured The Whisky Café made a memorable and impactful entrance into the market.