EX LIBRIS
This is a themed redesign for the Paludan Book Café. Known as Denmark's oldest book café, it sits in the Jewish quarter of Copenhagen and was originally a café and library retailer for students. Now, guests can enjoy a wide menu of food and treats on top of a calm, reading-centric atmosphere. My objective was to create a cohesive new brand on top of a line of new books and products to boost the café's influence further.
My first steps included the creation of the mood boards and sketches for a potential logo. I was especially inspired by celestial imagery and the idea of bringing light out from the dark. I wanted to avoid over modernization, create a cohesive color palette, and allow for variation in the book covers I had to create later.
I paired down my sketches into a handful of ideas and expanded on each, creating multiple versions of the same concept. After deciding on the fair right due to it's simplicity and strength, I still felt it wasn't connecting well enough to the book café.
After doing a bit of research, I discovered the concept of ex libris. They are traditionally used as a book owner or production company's mark to ownership. They were each uniquely designed based on the individual and contained a whole variety of symbols. I opted to move forward with my sun symbol and incorporate the ex libris structure.
Here is the main redesign for the Paluden Book Café. I kept the texture of my illustrations to provide an organic, hand-stamped feel. The color scheme was inspired by a variety of book covers I found in the café and balances the vibrancy without overwhelming.
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The bright sun of the ex libris represents the light of new knowledge and opportunities to come through reading, and the name of the café sits where a an owner's name would sit traditionally.
This line of books would contain limited edition releases bound with a traditional fabric and embossed with a stamped Ex Libris. A cheaper and less detailed version will be available at all times.
The limited edition runs would extend to these tote bags, running a release of bags when a new book comes out. They'd feature the new ex libris design with Paludan across the bottom.
Outside the cafe would include a canvas banner in an off white color resembling the color of an old book page.
The next objective was to develop cover ideas for the new line of books put out by the café. Sticking to the concept of Ex Libris, the designs below incorporate unique illustrations of Ex Libris based on the book content itself. Hover over each to see the first page designs.
