CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
THE COMMONS BAR SAN DIEGO
During our partnership with The Commons Bar San Diego, we stepped in to provide end-to-end brand management and vibrant custom collateral. When they need to turn everyday patrons into loyal fans, they trust our creative direction to deliver memorable touch points—whether it's through reimagined menus, eye-catching digital promotions, custom merchandise, or custom-built interactive bar games.
Brand Ecosystem & Extension
Client: The Commons Bar San Diego
Project: Brand Management
Role: Creative Director, Brand Manager
Deliverables: Print Design, Social Media Campaigns, Apparel Design, Strategy
The Baseline
The Commons Bar had already established itself as a staple in the vibrant San Diego hospitality scene with a foundational set of brand assets. My objective was to take these existing core assets—logos, color palettes, and typographic standards—and strategically extend them across a multitude of new initiatives, building out a comprehensive brand ecosystem.
The Design Challenge
To capture the dynamic energy of The Commons Bar, the core design challenge was striking the perfect balance between strict brand consistency and fresh, engaging execution. We needed to step away from repetitive application of the logo and instead create a unique visual language that felt forward-thinking and modern. The goal was to elevate the aesthetic while maintaining the authentic, accessible charm expected by the bar's loyal San Diego demographic.
The Production Challenge
Working to extend a brand across highly diverse mediums—from physical print materials and custom apparel to digital social spaces—presents unique production hurdles. We had to ensure that typography, color fidelity, and core design elements worked in seamless harmony, whether screen-printed on fabric, glowing on a mobile feed, or read on a physical menu under dim bar lighting. The brand's visual identity needed to adapt flawlessly to enhance, rather than complicate, the patron's experience at every touchpoint.
The Initiatives: A Roadmap
This foundational strategy paved the way for several targeted projects, each designed to amplify the brand's reach. The following case studies detail the specific execution of these extensions:
Menu Engineering: Merging brand design with consumer psychology to drive profitability.
Signage & Wayfinding: Enhancing the physical footprint and on-site experience.
Apparel Design: Designing high-quality merchandise to turn patrons into brand ambassadors.
Social Media Presence: Translating the in-house energy into a cohesive digital narrative.
Interactive Games: We created a totally custom life size game of Drinko, a play on the famous Plinko game, to engage the patrons and add to the several additional bar games on site.
Menu Engineering
Client: The Commons Bar, San Diego
Project: Menu Design & Profitability Optimization
The Challenge
The Commons Bar already possessed a visually engaging menu that perfectly captured their fun, approachable brand voice. The original design featured a distinct, retro-leaning red and blue aesthetic, playful typography, and clever copywriting—like dubbing their wings "Voted the Best Wings in the History of Wings!". However, even with this strong, well-designed foundation, there was room for strategic enhancement.
The layout functioned beautifully as a traditional catalog but hadn't yet been fully optimized as an active sales engine. For instance, high-margin, signature offerings like the "Quality Cocktails" were grouped at the very bottom of the page rather than in prime focal areas. The challenge was to take this solid, on-brand design and refine it—alongside the creation of a newly optimized beer menu—using behavioral science to naturally guide patron choices, boost profit margins, and empower the service staff, all without losing the bar's established charm.
The Strategy: Applied Science & Psychology
To elevate the menu's performance, we cross-referenced sales data (popularity) with item profitability (margins). We then rebuilt the layouts for both the main food/cocktail menu and the dedicated beer menu using proven psychological tactics:
The "Golden Triangle": We mapped the new layouts to align with natural eye-tracking studies. We strategically elevated high-margin "Star" items—like premium cocktails and signature burgers—into the center, top right, and top left of the layout, where a patron's eyes naturally gravitate first.
Visual Anchoring & Highlighting: We utilized visual boundaries and brand-aligned cues (such as the red banners used for "Starters" and "Classic Grill") to strategically draw attention to target dishes and craft beers, preventing them from getting lost in standard lists.
Cognitive Load Reduction: By cleaning up the pricing structure and removing aggressive dollar signs (which trigger the "pain of paying" psychology), we shifted the patron's focus from the cost to the engaging descriptions and quality of the items.
The Execution & Operational Alignment
The redesign extended beyond the physical paper; it was a holistic operational shift:
Kitchen & Bar Optimization: By predicting the shift in order volume toward our newly highlighted food items and premium craft beers, we collaborated with both the kitchen and the bar managers to streamline prep and tap rotation. This ensured that as demand for high-margin items spiked, ticket times and quality remained exceptional.
Service Staff Systematization: The new layout served as a guided script for the service team. We trained the staff on how both the food and beer menus were structured, turning them into collaborative tools. It created natural, conversational pathways for staff to suggest targeted add-ons, pairings (e.g., suggesting a specific IPA from the new beer menu to go with the "Danger Zone Burger"), and premium upgrades.
The Impact
By treating the menus as functional pieces of brand technology, the engineering initiative yielded immediate and measurable results:
Increased Profitability: Successfully shifted consumer behavior, driving a noticeable increase in the sales volume of high-margin "Star" items across both food and beverage categories.
Elevated Overall Revenue: The strategic layout, combined with the new staff upselling system, increased the average ticket size per table.
Enhanced Operations: Alignment between front-of-house promotions and back-of-house prep initiatives resulted in smoother shifts during peak volume hours.
Brand Cohesion: Delivered physical touchpoints that retained the distinct "Commons Bar" personality while quietly working as high-performance sales engines.
In-Venue Digital & Physical Signage
Client: The Commons Bar, San Diego
Project: Internal Advertising Ecosystem & Point-of-Sale Marketing
The Challenge
Once patrons were through the doors of The Commons Bar, we had a captive audience, but we needed a non-intrusive way to direct their attention toward our most profitable initiatives. In a high-energy, visually stimulating bar environment, traditional flyers or cluttered posters often get ignored. The challenge was to leverage the physical real estate of the bar—specifically the tables and the existing network of television screens—to actively advertise food specials, drive social media engagement, and boost event attendance without disrupting the guest experience or making the venue feel like a billboard.
The Strategy: A Multi-Tiered Visual Ecosystem
To capture attention organically, I developed a dual-layered signage strategy that met patrons exactly where their eyes naturally lingered: at their tables and on the screens.
The Micro-Level (Table Tents): We utilized table tents as hyper-targeted, point-of-sale marketing. Instead of overwhelming these small displays with text, we focused on high-res, mouth-watering photography of the "Star" items identified during our menu engineering phase. This served as a visual primer, planting the seed for high-margin appetizers or premium cocktails right as guests sat down to order.
The Macro-Level (Digital Signage): We transformed the bar’s network of TVs from passive sports monitors into a dynamic, internal billboard system. During commercial breaks or on dedicated screens, we ran a branded, motion-graphic loop designed to grab attention from across the room.
The Execution: Designing for the Medium
The success of this initiative relied heavily on designing specifically for the environment:
Promoting Nightly & Special Events: I created high-contrast, easily digestible digital graphics to promote our recurring nightly specials (e.g., Trivia Night, Wing Wednesday) alongside larger, upcoming special events. The typography was scaled for readability from 20 feet away in low lighting.
Driving Social Media Interaction: To bridge the gap between our physical space and digital presence, several screens featured live social media prompts. By displaying our handles, custom event hashtags, and occasionally showcasing user-generated content from patrons tagging the bar, we gamified the social experience and encouraged immediate, in-seat engagement.
Cohesive Brand Aesthetics: Whether it was a physical table tent for a "Danger Zone Burger" or a digital motion flyer for a weekend DJ set, every piece of collateral utilized the core brand colors, typography, and cheeky copywriting established in the overarching brand guidelines.
The Impact
Activating the interior space as a strategic marketing channel delivered compounding returns for the business:
Point-of-Sale Lift: Highlighting specific food and beverage items via table tents created an immediate spike in orders for those targeted items, working perfectly in tandem with our menu engineering efforts.
Increased Event Turnout: Repetitive, high-visibility digital promotion of upcoming events significantly reduced the need for external ad spend, as we were successfully converting our current foot traffic into returning guests for future events.
Community Growth: The on-screen social media prompts led to a measurable uptick in organic tags, check-ins, and follower growth, expanding our digital reach through the networks of our patrons.
Apparel Design
Client: The Commons Bar, San Diego
Project: Apparel Design & Merchandise Strategy
The Challenge
The standard hospitality uniform is often rigid, corporate, and uninspired. We needed to outfit the staff in a way that felt cohesive but remained authentic to the laid-back, energetic culture of San Diego. Furthermore, we recognized an untapped revenue opportunity: patrons don't want to buy and wear a "uniform," but they will buy great clothing. The challenge was to bridge the gap between functional staff attire and highly desirable lifestyle merchandise that patrons would actually want to spend money on.
The Strategy: Lifestyle Over Uniform
Instead of just slapping the bar's logo on a standard black t-shirt, we approached the apparel line as a standalone retail project. The strategy was simple: design clothing that the staff and patrons would actively choose to wear on their days off. We focused on high-quality materials, comfortable fits, and culturally relevant aesthetics, dividing the designs into two distinct, highly wearable collections.
The Execution: A Two-Pronged Collection
To maximize appeal across our demographic, we developed designs that spoke to the vibe of both the city and the bar itself:
The Coastal Surf Line: We designed a series of branded t-shirts and hoodies that leaned heavily into the comfortable, relaxed aesthetic of San Diego surf wear. By focusing on soft, premium fabrics, relaxed fits, and subtle, stylized brand integrations, we created gear that completely bypassed the "official uniform" feel.
The 70s Classic Rock Series: To capture the loud, fun, and energetic atmosphere of The Commons Bar, we took our core branding assets and remixed them into designs inspired by famous 1970s classic rock tour shirts. This gave the merchandise a gritty, vintage, and distinctly cool edge that stood out from typical bar souvenirs.
The Impact
By treating the apparel as a lifestyle brand extension rather than an operational necessity, the merchandising initiative was a massive success:
Walking Billboards: By making the gear available for purchase, we successfully blurred the line between staff and patron. Loyal customers bought the apparel and became active, walking brand ambassadors throughout San Diego and beyond.
Lucrative Revenue Stream: The shift in design philosophy from "cheap souvenir" to "premium lifestyle apparel" drove significant merchandise sales, creating a highly profitable secondary revenue channel for the business.
Boosted Staff Morale: Replacing stiff, traditional uniforms with comfortable, stylish, and highly coveted gear elevated the team's daily presentation, comfort, and overall morale during long shifts.
SOCIAL MEDIA
To translate The Commons Bar's high-energy in-house experience into a cohesive digital narrative, we developed a highly structured, rhythm-based social media campaign primarily focused on Instagram, where our engaging brand voice perfectly aligned with the target demographic for maximum reach. We established a unique, stylized visual identity for every night of the week to drive consistent engagement and foot traffic, featuring recurring anchor events like Acoustic Tuesday, Wicked Smart Wednesday (Trivia Night), and Say What Thursday (Game Show Style). This weekly cadence was strategically punctuated with high-impact, custom promotional graphics for major viewing events—including UFC pay-per-views, NFL, and MLB games—as well as massive local cultural moments like San Diego Comic-Con and all major holidays, ensuring the bar remained top-of-mind as the ultimate daily destination.
Interactive Games
Experiential Marketing & Custom Fabrication
The Challenge
The Commons Bar already fostered a highly interactive, playful environment, successfully keeping patrons entertained with existing activities like shuffleboard, life-size Jenga, and several retro video games. The challenge was to elevate this established amusement culture by creating a proprietary, show-stopping centerpiece. We needed an interactive element that wasn't just a passive background activity, but a magnetic event driver that could directly incentivize mid-week attendance and create a viral, shared experience.
The Challenge
The Commons Bar already fostered a highly interactive, playful environment, successfully keeping patrons entertained with existing activities like shuffleboard, life-size Jenga, and several retro video games. The challenge was to elevate this established amusement culture by creating a proprietary, show-stopping centerpiece. We needed an interactive element that wasn't just a passive background activity, but a magnetic event driver that could directly incentivize mid-week attendance and create a viral, shared experience.
The Strategy & Execution: The "Drinko" Board
To deliver a totally unique experience, we concepted, designed, and fabricated a massive, 7-foot-tall "Drinko" game. We approached this not just as a bar game, but as a piece of functional, interactive brand architecture:
Custom Fabrication: The towering structure was built using high-quality wood and clear plexiglass. This ensured heavy-duty durability for a high-traffic bar setting while providing total transparency so the entire crowd could watch the action unfold.
Tactile Brand Assets: We designed a custom, heavyweight red acrylic puck prominently featuring The Commons Bar branding. Dropping this specific, branded piece became the focal point of the interaction.
High-Stakes Prize Tiering: The bottom of the board was engineered with various slots that the puck could randomly land in. These slots featured a tiered prize system ranging from highly sought-after bar deals and physical prizes to a massive, headline-grabbing grand prize: a single trip to Las Vegas.
The Impact: The Wednesday Night Spectacle
Rather than letting patrons play Drinko at random, we weaponized the game to drive mid-week revenue by tying it directly to our Wednesday night Bingo events.
Gamified Event Structure: The Drinko board became the ultimate crescendo of the night. The winner of Wednesday Bingo didn't just win a standard prize; they won the highly coveted opportunity to step up to the 7-foot board and drop the branded puck for the big win.
Communal Energy: This mechanic transformed an individual's Bingo win into an electric, game-show-like spectacle for the entire bar. The visual and auditory anticipation of the puck dropping down the pegs created a shared, high-energy moment that couldn't be replicated elsewhere.
Mid-Week Growth: By offering a genuinely unique experience and a legitimate chance at a Vegas trip, we significantly boosted Wednesday night attendance, turning a traditionally slower hospitality night into a high-demand destination event.