← All work 001 Blue Note Café

A jazz legacy, rebuilt as a system.

Place: Hamra, Beirut
Type: Bachelor’s final year project, USEK
Scope: Brand identity, packaging and campaign
Deliverables: Logo system, stationery, tableware, 3 beers, teaser campaign

01 The brief

My bachelor’s final year project at USEK. Each student had to revive Hamra through one of their own interests: some staged fashion shows, I chose jazz.

02 The choice

Blue Note Café, Hamra’s jazz venue. Reviving it meant giving value back to its history and to the great artists who once played there.

03 The idea

Tell Hamra in three tempos: past, present and future, each with its own beer, palette and pattern.

04 The approach

Art Deco structure with contemporary restraint, carried from the logo to the tableware, then a teaser campaign that shows each mood before the bottles appear.

One mark, every touchpoint

Art Deco geometry in a restrained palette, carried from the business card down to the smallest coaster.

The primary mark: Art Deco geometry in a restrained palette, timeless without feeling dated.

The accent version adds warmth, for moments that need to command attention.

The stripped version lets the type carry the weight: the system holds even at its most minimal.

Blue Note Art Deco pattern in orange lines — The pattern: the fan from the logo, repeated into an Art Deco grid.

Blue Note business cards, front and back — Business cards

Beer glass etched with the Blue Note fan pattern — Signature Cup

Blue Note plate with the fan symbol — Tableware

Loyalty

Loyalty lives on the coaster every guest already touches: one stamp per drink, the 10th is on the house. Three full coasters earn the Signature Cup, signed by the artist playing that night, to take home.

Posters: the artists of Hamra

A poster series that gives the spotlight back to the great jazz artists who played in Hamra, from Sonny Fortune to Chico Freeman, Larry Coryell and Ray Vega.

Three artist posters on a wall: Chico Freeman, Larry Coryell and Ray Vega

Blue Note Beer: Hamra in three tempos

A product extension born from the café’s identity. Three bottles map Hamra’s past, present and future, each with its own palette, pattern and beer.

Echoes of Jazz bottle — Echoes of Jazz · the golden era, a deep red Abbey

Lost Tune bottle — Lost Tune · Hamra in decline, a light pilsner

Revival Blend bottle — Revival Blend · Hamra restored, a fruit beer

Advertising campaign: teaser phase

Built before the bottles were ever shown. Three phases, each borrowing the mood of the bottle it precedes: presence (“It played before it poured.”), silence (“It played… then it stopped.”) and a promise (“It will play soon. And it will pour.”). The product stays hidden on purpose, so the reveal becomes a confirmation, not an introduction.

Teaser billboard: a saxophone filled with beer, “It played before it poured.”

The three teaser posters: saxophone, piano and double bass — The first, second and third of three.

Advertising campaign: reveal phase

Designed for billboards and street display. A dark background, a dramatic spotlight and a centered bottle command attention at a distance, and the line closes the story: “It played. It stopped. Now it pours.”

Reveal billboard with the Echoes of Jazz bottle

Social media

The Instagram feed alternates three voices, the artists, the atmosphere of the club and the bottles, so the grid reads as one poster.

Blue Note Instagram grid: artist posts, jazz club illustrations and beer bottle posts

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