Electric entertainment.
File under: Branding & Design, DIY, Crowd Surfing
In 2019 some friends and I opened a bar & music venue in Cudahy, Wisconsin.
Naturally, I’ve taken it upon myself to do all of the design work. Branding, neon signs, flyers, merchandise, menus… I even write the weekly email blasts. Here’s a taste of the place and some of the work I’ve put into it.
Photos by Clayton Hauck
Mural painted by David Leutert.
We strive to provide a safe, inclusive space for people that reflects the DIY values that we grew up with in the punk scene. As long as we’re doing that, we’re happy. We’re not doing this to make money.
Our mission is to exist.
“Keep Playin” hoodie design (2020).
“Nailed to the X” shirt design (2019).
The Merch Table
We’d always had a couple of shirts for sale but when we shut down in March of 2020 due to COVID-19, I started designing lots of things to try and help pay the bills. Between the expected (shirts, sweatshirts, glassware) and some more out-there ideas like hot sauce and prayer candles, the positive response was overwhelming. We ended up selling roughly twelve times the volume of merchandise in 2020 as we did in 2019, despite being closed for three quarters of the year.
“Insert Coin” & “Ripper” T-shirts and “Very Famous” sweatshirt (2020).
Glassware, “Gimme Seltzer” koozie, and “Pray for X-Ray” candles (2020).
Left: Hoodie design featuring a wordmark made out of letters from our arcade game cabinets (2019).
Right: Label art for “Button Smasher,” our exclusive collaboration with Soothsayer Hot Sauce (2020).
So while 2020 didn’t go as planned we managed to stick around thanks in large part to a very supportive community of friends and fans. Summer 2021 marks our return to live events and unrestricted crowds and we couldn’t be happier to be back at it.
Torche in 2019.
Photos by Brian Santostefano.