While living in The Hague and studying at the art school, I had various side jobs, mostly waitressing at local cafes and restaurants. My longest lasting hospitality job was at a place called Juliana's but I also worked at a few other places, some of which were owned and run by my friends and acquaintances. Aside from all the usual daily tasks I often also got to do some artwork on chalkboards and menus, which I very much enjoyed. Since those were my first small illustrative projects that were ever out in the public and those days are filled with happy memories, I decided to include them here (even though this is now quite a long blog post).
Dishy Espressobar (2016)
Dishy was a small coffee house on the popular Noordeinde street in The Hague, Netherlands. Open only during the day and serving light lunch, desserts, coffee and soft drinks, it was mostly visited by people working in the area.
As it just so happened, they needed a rebrand while I was working there and I got to do the new version of the logo, as well as their outdoor poster, new menu and a big mural with prices. This was a very fun small illustration project and I had full freedom to change it as I pleased, providing that the colors stay recognizable (black and orange) and that the style becomes more authentic and slighlty warmer. The old menu and the board featured photographs of the items and I decided to hand draw everything instead.
Lapsang (2015/2016)
Situated in the busy Oude Molstraat and not so far away from Dishy, is a small and cosy place called Lapsang. Lapsang is old fashioned and full of character and is known for high teas during the day and great food and wine during the evenings. At the time I worked there my friend from high school ran the lunch shift and we were a small team of about 5 or 6 people. I got to do the outdoor and indoor board and later also some hand-made tea labels. Have a look.
Juliana's (2013)
Juliana's was a place I worked at the longest. It is very well known and very old restaurant at a square across the Parliament in the very centre of The Hague. Juliana's was named after Dutch queen Juliana and at the time I worked there it's theme and overall style was very royal and authentic. Over the years it changed both its name and style but it remains one of the most visited restaurants in that part of town. I once did a drawing of their beer selection.. ages ago... and I was surprised to discover these photos.
