A wine bar and Korean restaurant in Austin, Texas—framed in heritage, with a distinctly contemporary presentation.

Owned and operated by partners Richard Hargreave and Claudia Lee, Underdog is a distinct wine bar and Korean restaurant in Austin, TX. The pair approached us to create a new identity for the nearly one-year-old venture, alongside a series of printed matter and spatial touches to fully articulate their story. 

Through initial discussions we quickly aligned on the need to express the brand as framed by heritage, nodding to Lee’s South Korean origins and Hargreave’s experience establishing Momofuku globally, but with a distinctly contemporary feel when it came to presentation and atmosphere.

An evolution of the Underdog wordmark was the first point to solve, set in all caps to generate a sound, institutional impression, then reworked with Dinamo’s historically steeped Helveesti to accentuate it’s elegance. We approached the creation of an illustration system showcasing a series of culinary staples and table essentials next, sourced and developed down the rabbit hole of vintage Korean cookbooks. We also incorporated supporting type families to support this framework within menus and printed matter. 

The color system’s influence comes from the striking palette of the ingredients in the dishes offered, as well as the soft tones of vintage Korean cinema. We knew we wanted elegance and elevation, yet punctuated with a delightful vibrancy and curiousity—so while the identity contains nods to the past, layouts and implementations are set up to distinctly make a mark in the now.