house of honk! logo system
capturing DIY street band culture through a confident mark
This logo system was created for House of HONK! New York City, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing street band music & spectacle culture to audiences across NYC and beyond.
The challenge was to create a logo that captured the DIY energy of street band culture while also radiating confidence in the arts nonprofit industry.
Although the project began as a refresh of an existing logo, I saw an opportunity to elevate the concept into an unforgettable mark that signaled the organization’s role in New York’s cityscape. I also transformed the design into a scalable logo system.
Organizers called the new logo system “a level up, for sure.” The new logo system brought confidence and professionalism to the organization while maintaining their character. This project has given the organization an imperative to reflect on and strengthen the brand identity, brand architecture, and visual identity of the organization.
In community-driven spaces, a non-profit logo should capture both spirit and place. House of Honk!’s identity draws directly from New York City’s architecture, transforming the idea of “home” into a bold, adaptable mark for street bands and cultural events.
Design Rush
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authentically new york
When I took on this project, I inherited a logo from a couple other designers who just couldn’t make it work. The concept for the mark—a house that represented the home for street bands in NYC—was solid, but previous executions just didn’t feel right.
I wanted to take the house further and make it funkier, when suddenly I realized the house was all wrong. In NYC, we don’t have small houses with pitched roofs and chimneys. We live in cramped buildings, fourth floor walk-ups, and lofts that used to be industrial spaces (and still smell like it).
It was a simple idea that became huge revelation and completely changed the trajectory of the project. As soon as I started drawing buildings authentic to New York, the rest of the logo system fell right into place.
