The Bank

The Bank is elevated Irish food, rooted in place, served with genuine Irish hospitality, the kind of meal that stays with you. Set in Inishowen on the edge of Lough Foyle, it takes its name from the old Bank of Ireland building it now occupies - a place that has always drawn the community in, just for a different reason now.

Louise and Paul McElvaney came to the project with a clear ethos and interior designer Shauna Stewart of Velvet Interiors already shaping the room. My role was to translate that instinct into a brand world that could carry the same confidence across every touchpoint, from the window to the menu to the napkin.

The challenge sits in a single tension: how do you build a brand that feels ambitious without losing its warmth? Elevated, but never stiff. Rooted in place, but never parochial. Every decision that follows - the palette, the typography, the mark - is a resolution of that balance.

Working closely with Shauna meant the brand and the interior had to speak the same language. Not matching, but cohesive. Her curved banquettes and brass task lighting set a tone of considered craft, and the brand picks that up: greens drawn from the landscape, warm clays for the welcome, soft linens to let it all breathe. Nothing too saturated, clean, or cold.

The Bank should feel timeless. As if it has always been there, and always will be.