Creating a sharp look for downtown’s newest barbershop

The Staple Street Skybridge is one of the most-photographed yet under-the-radar landmarks in all of New York City. And just up the block, it has a new neighbor: Staple Street Barbers, a new shop started by a Tribeca local and a team of barbers who had been working in the neighborhood for over a decade.

To open the shop, the two partners, Greg and Deni, wanted to come out the gate with a look and feel that immediately set them up for success and growth, with an eye toward future locations and an e-commerce business. They engaged Saunter for a brand identity and website with a fast-approaching deadline. With such a condensed timeline, working in line with the architects and contractors doing the brick-and-mortar work, we had to bring focus to the project, identifying the most impactful surfaces to touch and eliminating a lot of the usual back-and-forth over creative territories. In just the first week, we had all aligned on a general direction, and set out to make it real.

For the logo, we reference the iconic skybridge, echoing the seven window panels on the actual structure in the graphic mark. We paired it with a bold type, Pragmatica Extended Black, which lent itself to numerous dynamic lock-ups, so that the branding could flex into any size or shape necessary, from the wide glass windows to the tall and narrow blade sign. We carried the type from the logo into the web design, using the same font for the headlines, but reverting to the ever-legible Inter for body text. For color, we kept things similarly simple and bold: a taxi-inspired yellow and a dark asphalt gray. Where we needed a light neutral, we used a warm light gray.

The team hit the ground running on opening weekend with a full appointment book, and is poised to become the newest anchor in one of Manhattan’s most desirable areas.

• Brand identity & logo

• Website

• Art direction

• Social

• Signage & collateral

• Merch