A new concept from Death & Company that celebrates the art of the neighborhood bar.

Death & Company helped redefine cocktail culture through precision, craft, and a certain level of reverence. With Close Company, the goal was something a little different. Still thoughtful and intentional, but warmer, louder, and more communal. A place where the drinks are world class, but the room feels like the corner bar you’ve known forever.

Opening locations in Nashville, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, Close Company is an homage to the American dive in all its forms. The kind of bar where strangers become friends, bartenders remember your order, and the night always lasts a little longer than planned. Our role was to build a visual world that felt instantly familiar without becoming nostalgic or staged.

Icons, Not Emojis

At the heart of the identity is a custom Wingding typeface, an entire iconographic language built specifically for Close Company. These symbols are not slick emojis or digital shorthand. They are something older and warmer. Proto-icons inspired by Yellow Pages ads, vintage matchbooks, and the visual language of a pre-digital era when bars lived through word of mouth rather than algorithms.

Many of the glyphs reference connection. Phones, arrows, mailboxes. Small reminders that bars have always been places where people come together. Others point to drinks, music, and late nights with friends. Individually they are simple marks, but together they create a flexible toolkit that ties the brand together across menus, merchandise, and physical spaces.

A System Built for Good Company

The core graphic mark translates the bartender’s handshake into geometry, a symbol of welcome and belonging. Paired with a bold wordmark that blends humanist curves with retro swagger, the system balances warmth with clarity. Grainy illustrations and color-blocked layouts echo the visual energy of blues posters and neighborhood signage.

Because Close Company lives in multiple cities, the brand was designed to be flexible. Modular layouts, adaptable color palettes, and a broad asset library allow each location to develop its own personality while still feeling connected to the larger story. From tees and coasters to signage and menus, every element was designed to feel like it belongs to the bar itself.

The result is a brand that feels less like a marketing exercise and more like a place that has always been there. A room full of good drinks, good people, and the quiet promise that if you come back a second time, you are already a regular.