Angel & Anchor’s identity for Southside Social shows the charming impact of type and tone together

Bustling, busy and brimming with local life, Belfast’s Southside Social made an immediate splash when the bar opened in 2022, in part due to its characterful identity crafted by Belfastian neighbours and branding studio Angel & Anchor. Flush with personality and confidence equal to the bar itself, Southside Social’s brand encapsulates the city’s life and locality and the interior design’s dedication to timeless tactility – all through a tangible combination of type, tone of voice and colour. “The core green and off-white colours were chosen after it was brought up in early art direction references,” Founder & Creative Director Ben Connolly tells us, recalling the similar colours shown throughout the interior and experience references. “The dusty pink and blue secondary colours were chosen as complementary ones in a matching tone,” he remarks, “and the blue was suggested by interior designer John Busteed,” chosen for its reference to the Gulf Racing livery. “These were a strong and easy way to present a certain era or vibe inherently,” Connolly continues, “meaning we could then be freer with the logo mark,” conveying a more enduring typographic approach as the desired retro feel was carried by the colourways. Alongside a candid approach to copy, the use of typography throughout Southside Social’s brand is charming and welcoming, with the studio opting for Device Fonts’ Ministry for the logomark and New Kansas by Newyln as the primary brand typeface. Together, the two not only convey a nostalgic aesthetic akin to classic lounges and cocktail bars, but convey contemporary confidence through their straightforward, unapologetic system. Similarly brazen, the inclusion of OH no Type Co’s Swear Display for feature headlines introduces a burst of creative expression.