For our final project in Production class fall 2021, we were placed in a group of three at the beginning of the semester with one goal: create and brand a faux business that would be located in a real repurposed gas station in Vestavia, a suburb of Birmingham, AL. As I worked with two other students, I learned how to lead creatively,  plan efficiently, and work in community with others.

MOOD BOARDS / LOGO / TYPE + COLOR SCHEME

ILLUSTRATIONS - KEY BRANDING ELEMENT

PHOTOGRAPHY

This part of the project was a group effort with one of my partners. She shot the photos, and I staged it, set up charcuterie boards, etc. I learned from her in navigating quality photography sessions with grace.

MENU DESIGN

BILLBOARDS

MISC

ORIGINAL PITCH

Gather Social House isn’t a winery, a brewery, a coffee house, or even a restaurant. Gather is something more, something too meaningful to put in a box. It’s a place to form lasting connections over our hickory wood picnic tables that transcend decades, backgrounds, and agendas. It’s a place to pour into those around you while pouring yourself another foggy glass of our house lemonade. It’s a place where the walls echo with the hum of cicadas and the creaking of rocking chairs on humid summer evenings. It’s a place you could imagine an old married couple having come every Friday evening for 40 something years to sit in the same booth. It’s a place to sink into a couch, sway on a porch swing, and settle in over a piece of strawberry pretzel pie that will definitely spoil your supper, following a long day of catching crawdads with your brother in the backyard creek. Gather feels like home.

Gather Social House was formed out of a desire to bring the slow-paced memories of childhood and the changing of seasons in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the hurried, hustled restlessness of Birmingham life. Our space is an eclectic blend of timeless pieces that invite the weary soul to rest and reminisce a while, whether on your own or in the company of old friends. We also gather our resources from places that believe in the same kinds of hospitality. That’s why our food and ingredients are farmed locally, and our wines and brews are sourced from all corners of the Southeast. We have seen too many “southern culture” establishments that all look the same and miss the mark, catering to stereotypes over richness. We seek to emit that gentle, soulful southern feeling without shoving it in your face.