Davy Denduyver gives Amsterdam’s Nikotin a raw, ink-drawn identity

In Amsterdam Noord, where the city’s culinary culture evolves most visibly, a former tobacco factory has become home to Nikotin – a restobar that brings together two seemingly disparate worlds. Founded by nightlife institution Nachbar and Michelin-starred chef Tim Van Der Molen, the venue operates in the space between restaurant and bar, serving Asian cuisine and grill-based cooking alongside natural wines and thoughtfully curated drinks. Bruges-based graphic designer Davy Denduyver developed the identity, translating this hybrid character into a system built on hand-drawn typography and strategic restraint. The name presented him with an immediate challenge. A restaurant called Nikotin – a direct reference to its former life as a tobacco factory – was never going to be an easy path. Any cigarette-related visual reference had to be handled carefully. Denduyver explored more literal directions early on, studying iconic cigarette logos and developing iterations he never showed the client. “It didn’t feel right,” he explains. “Stripping it down, I landed on using very extended custom type shaped horizontal, roughly like a cigarette.” The logotype’s final form emerged through collaborative refinement, with early versions even bolder and harder to read before the team found the balance. Certain elements of Nikotin’s interior draw from Space Age styling, and this influence surfaces in the identity too – the boldness of the letters, the rounded corners mixing with bright orange. For Yoeri Roest, Nikotin’s Interior Designer & Creative Director, the logotype captured something they had struggled to articulate. “We loved the playful uniformity of the logo from first seeing the design,” he shares. “Besides it tapping into an aspect of the place itself, it really embodies the feel we were looking for.” The wordmark originally featured evenly spaced lettering, which Roest particularly appreciated, though the team ultimately opted for a more legible arrangement without compromising its robust character.