Client: NOLO Group – Seoul, Korea Year: 2023
Creative Concept
In the vibrant heart of Seoul, Korea, Normal has created a food and beverage brand, seamlessly weaving the essence of the seasons and the richness of nature into a progressive hospitality experience. A novel concept and brand – NoLo! – emerge as a naturalist bar and café, where every element pay homage to the timeless natural beauty of Korea’s while simultaneously embracing it’s forward-thinking and innovative spirit. This one-of-a-kind cocktail bar places a spotlight on non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic beverages.
Brand Identity
The identity of this pioneering establishment, “NoLo!”, is ingeniously developed by merging the prefixes ‘No’ and ‘Lo’, symbolising its commitment to non- and low-alcoholic beverages. This conjoined name also encapsulates the vision of NoLo! as a versatile space that seamlessly intertwines entertainment, work, and socialising. Here, the graceful convergence of rich nature and contemporary creativity is brought to life, creating an genuinely immersive experience.
Visual Identity
The choice of materials reflects this ethos. Raw materials, natural textures and plenty of light through full-frontal glass facade make for a pleasant, warm and tactile space. Handmade wood fixture and furniture highlights the natural environment. Dusty terracotta red brick facade was maintained and restored while the interior was transformed into a green concrete box with simple, warm lighting.
“Creating non-alcoholic cocktails require ‘thinking like a chef”.
— Gia, founder of NoLo!
Our Approach
“As an inaugural store, client wanted a refreshing, stronger, unexpected even, visual identity.” Said Jinou Park, Founder of Normal. “NoLo! is an invention of a genre. I think the client wants to create moments of wonder and surprise and I wanted to translate visually the client’s genuinely original, modern and inventive ways entrenched in the concept, business and operations. NoLo!’s brand promises are premium, good and artisanal and our art direction showcases that.”
Brand & Visual Identity
Brand Proposition
While traditional cocktails have been around for centuries, proper non-alcoholic cocktails are still a relatively new thing. Founding ethos of the NoLo! brand was about taking this limitation and turning it into an opportunity to experiment and innovate.
We called NoLo!’s passion for creativity and alchemy in distilling new classics of the future – “Harness the power of nature and alchemy“.
Brand Promise
Four Brand Promises (called ‘Pledges’) were developed. They are Premium, Artisanal, Seasonal and Good.
The Pledges represent NoLo!’s proprietary principles in relentlessly searching for the most premium ingredients, transforming those raw ingredients through innovative craft and striving for sustainable and uncompromising way of doing things.
Art DIrection
Creating wonder and surprise was the organising principle of the visual identity and therefore art direction was about translating visually the client’s genuinely original, modern and inventive ways entrenched in the concept, business and operations. Natural yet unexpected blend of colors presented in playful art direction was impelmented throughout the visual identity.
“
Our enemy is mocktails. Creating non-alcoholic cocktails require thinking like a chef. Meaning blending with taste and flavour in mind
“
Gia Lee, Founder of NOLO!
Normal . 