N8-44
Drawing inspiration from the contemporary European club
scene and Spain’s Ruta del Bakalao (Destroy Route),
N8-44 was created as a pop-up night club in the middle
of the LA Coliseum to celebrate the client’s birthday.
CHALLENGE
To build a world and identity for a pop-up nightclub.
APPROACH
Art direction wise, a fabricated narrative began to unravel.
The club was an old airplane hangar–determined by
the shape of the structure–that had been turned into a night club. This act of repurposing architecture is a
direct reference to European clubs: London’s Printworks, Amsterdam’s Gashouder, etc. The logotype
was created to match the clubs of the past, while paying
homage to the synths and equipment of techno raves.
CREDITS
Client
Markus “Notch” Persson
Agency/Photos
Production Club
Chief Creative Officer
Miguel Risueño
Creative Direction
Brian Rigazzi
Role
Senior Designer/Art Director
Born out of the death of the dictator Francesco Franco in 1973, La Ruta del Bakalao–”destroy route” was Spain’s largest clubbing scene in the 80s and 90s representing a search for joy, unbridled self-expression, and freedom after a period of desolation. “Esto es bacalao del bueno” translates to “this is good cod”, which is a Valencian way of describing good music. This history is the basis of N8-44. Typography of iconic Valencia clubs (Chocolate, Barraca, Puzzle, ACTV) were used to inform the modern day logomark.The initial racing feeling of early explorations follows a thread of how young Spanish people would trick out their trunks with booming speakers and blast music in parking lots of clubs. Car culture was heavily tied to La Ruta.
Old and newer rave/club
aesthetics were used to create a layer of patina in the form
of posters, stickers, and graffiti across the interior and
exterior of the structure insinuating its age and history.
In tradition of European clubs, photos were “prohibited” in order to encourage self-expression.It was also a bit of a cheeky addition since most participants knew they were going to be photographed, and around 60% of attendees were influencers.