BonTon is one of Amsterdam’s most recognisable nightclubs. With a strong reputation and established look, the brand already held a unique place in the city’s cultural landscape. But as the club expanded its presence into merchandise, collaborations, and new ventures, inconsistencies began to surface. What had started as an expressive identity now risked losing clarity without a system to guide it.
We partnered with BonTon to formalise and expand its brand. The goal was not to redesign but to stabilise, refine, and prepare the identity for growth.
BonTon had strong visual recognition and cultural presence. Yet its identity lacked internal rules, and design decisions often relied on instinct. The absence of structure led to inconsistent use of typography, color, and communication style. As BonTon explored new opportunities — from vodka to clothing — the challenge became greater. Without clear brand architecture, each extension risked diluting recognition instead of reinforcing it.
BonTon asked us to help protect what made the brand distinctive while creating a framework that would support scale.
BonTon’s brand was expressive but unstructured. Our role was to stabilise the identity and prepare it for growth — without compromising what made it distinctive. The focus was on consistency, system design, and future readiness.
Our work began by clarifying BonTon’s place in the market. Through positioning, we investigated how the brand wanted to be perceived and what made it distinct in the Amsterdam nightlife scene. This confirmed that BonTon’s edge lay in combining sophistication with sensuality. That insight guided the refinements to its identity and communication.
We then defined a brand architecture model. BonTon needed a structure that could unify its core club with emerging ventures like vodka, clothing, and other lifestyle extensions. We established a Branded House approach, where each sub-brand carried the BonTon name while remaining recognisable as part of one family. This gave coherence to growth and simplified brand management.
Finally, we shaped a communication strategy to ensure consistency in language and expression. BonTon already had a sense of how it wanted to sound — bold, chic, and playful — but lacked rules for execution. We created tone of voice guidance, messaging frameworks, and personality tenets that teams could use to keep every interaction aligned with the brand’s intent.
Once the strategy was clear, we translated it into systems of expression under brand identity.
One of the first tasks was redefining the color system. The existing palette was applied inconsistently, with no rules for hierarchy or context. We introduced a structured palette, balancing primary and secondary tones that reflected BonTon’s character and provided clarity for use across print, digital, and environmental design.
We also formalised logo categories. The system defined three levels of identity:
To ensure consistency, we developed lockup rules that governed how subbrand names should be placed with the core logo, including spacing ratios, typography, and hierarchy. This was paired with misuse guidance, showing incorrect applications to prevent ambiguity. These steps gave BonTon a logo system that could be repeated and scaled without eroding the brand.
Finally, we consolidated these elements into comprehensive brand guidelines. The document included typographic logic, spacing standards, imagery direction, and tone of voice guidance. The guidelines were designed to be practical and direct, giving BonTon’s teams everything they needed to apply the brand consistently — across digital, print, merchandise, and in-venue use.
The project delivered a structured and scalable brand system. BonTon now has the clarity and tools to grow — while staying true to its original character.
