So, as a UX designer, I rarely get to get in the weeds anymore with pure graphic design and branding work, so small pro-bono design side projects are pretty fun.
There’s a little coffee/pie shop called Republic of Pie, near our office in North Hollywood, and they had the perfect venue for an open mic night. It’s a spot I frequent everyday for afternoon coffee, as a daily ritual with my coworkers. So, needless to say, I’m a huge fan of this cool little coffee and pie shop.
I convinced a fellow coworker to help this cafe launch a weekly open mic…and I’d help launch it and brand it. The shop was open all night, but also had very little business at night, especially on Monday nights. So we pitched the owner our open mic concept, to help give a venue for independent musicians to perform, and to help drive more business on an otherwise slow time slot.
Anyways, long story short…it was a super fun and successful project. We got to work with the cafe and a bunch of independent musicians, to launch a weekly open mic night, which we branded “Music Mondays”. I did all the design and branding work, to help market the weekly event to musicians and patrons. Monday nights quickly became their busiest night.
Design itch scratched and good deed done.