Highway Haven
Highway Haven was completed in the spring of 2025 as a project for a brand design class. We were tasked with developing a brand concept with a distinctive point of differentiation. I chose to create a biker bar with its own distillery. The project included designing a primary logo, alternate marks, and supporting collateral.
For this project, I wanted to return to the more hippie, Southern California motorsports aesthetic. I used more organic typography to reinforce that laid-back, free-spirited feeling. The hand symbol Imagery helps convey the original biker bar atmosphere without making it feel overly rough or aggressive.
Process Work
Some of my favorite designs are vintage motorsports graphics, including branding, magazines, apparel, and bike and car graphics from the 1970s. I’m drawn to the free-spirited, hippie-inspired, slightly rebellious aesthetic of that era. I knew this project would be the perfect opportunity to incorporate that style into my work.
Bones and skulls are commonly used in this type of branding because they convey the toughness associated with the industry. The hand icon I created features softer lines, which helped make it feel more hipster-inspired and less intimidating. As I was working, I noticed the hidden “H” within the hand shape. I immediately knew I wanted to use that as a nod to the double “H” in “Highway Haven.”
Final Logo, Marks, and pattern
The final logo features a skeleton hand forming the rock-and-roll symbol, with a hidden “H” incorporated within the shape. I used an off-gray color palette with warmer tones to make the design feel slightly more approachable while still maintaining the tough, motorsports-inspired aesthetic. The typography is a rounded, all-caps style that mimics the individual bones found in the hand mark.
Bottle label
This imaginary bar also has its own distillery, so I created a bottle label to accompany the branding. I used an alternate mark for the whiskey label, featuring a middle finger that correlates to the name of the bourbon, “Blackout Batch Bourbon.” I thought it was a playful idea that fit well with the hipster-inspired aesthetic I was aiming for.
Whiskey glass Mockup
View the Brand Guidelines created for Highway Haven Below
Course Name: Brand Design
Art Director: Scott Gladd
Designer: Paige Edwards
Institution: PennWest University, Edinboro, PA