After the successful launch of Thunderbird, a well-known cocktail bar based in Fountain Square, Indianapolis, Indiana, Josh Gonzales, the business owner was ready to take on his second ambitious project. Inspired by the famous local writer Kurt Vonnegut’s book title, as well as setting a restaurant/bar franchise, Josh decided to name his second project Jailbird.

Jailbird is a college dive bar tailored towards the students and faculty, as well as the neighborhood around the University of Indianapolis (UofI). The client’s goal is to create a college dive bar that’s hip, energetic, accessible, and always timeless to Indianapolis’s bar and dining community.

After presenting the client with 3 different mood boards for visual directions, I started to visually explore the possibilities for Jailbird’s logo. I decided to take Jailbird’s name literally and explore as many illustration styles as possible. More than 150 birds were drawn and displayed above. Please keep in mind, only one bird gets to be the face of this business at the end of this journey.

During the presentation, the client and I narrowed the selections from 150 birds down to 25 birds. Typically I try to offer 3-5 design options to my clients, but this was an exception as we struggled to select the top bird out of the flock.

With the chance to develop the rest of the branding with the attitude of “all gas no break”, the client requested me to pull as many wild cards as possible. Below are some of our favorite eggs.