Graphical House

It marked Glasgow’s role as the host of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with a series of cultural events exploring the City’s links to the North Atlantic slave trade.

The Café acted as an events-hub over the course of the Games, exploring an often overlooked Commonwealth legacy through debate, visual art, literature, food and drink.

We designed an identity based upon a bracket symbol, reflecting the marginalisation of the subject matter, while also evoking the lines of merchant clippers.

We rolled-out the brand across invitations, prints, signage and a specially commissioned poetry anthology — maintaining an online presence with a bespoke event listing website.

These elements combined to enhance the Empire Café’s recognition and convey its vision to a wide range of visitors.

Graphical House was a key part of the Empire Café. The quality and impact of their design for our project exceeded our expectations. They took time to tease out what we wanted with professionalism, good humour and enthusiasm.

I would work with them again in a heartbeat.

Louise Welsh
Author and co-founder
Empire Café