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Big Apple Bar Mitzvah

New York, New York, it’s a wonderful town to celebrate a milestone occasion! For Griffin and his family, the greatest city in the world served as the muse for his bar mitzvah. From familiar NYC typography and illustration styles to its legendary food scene, the big apple influence shined bright as the Broadway lights on Griffin’s big night. 
High Brand Standards 

When your parents – Rockets of Awesome founder Rachel Blumenthal and Warby Parker founder Neil Blumenthal – are master brand builders and veritable tastemakers, you bet your bottom dollar your bar mitzvah will have a creative and carefully considered visual identity.  

We worked in close collaboration with Rachel to bring her specific Studio 54-meets-Gentleman’s Club vision to life. Her robust concept moodboards were a smorgasbord of iconic NYC inspo – The New York Times masthead, New Yorker cartoons, the Rainbow Room logo, a Murray’s Bagels menu – all of which Cheree Berry Paper & Design reimagined into a refined aesthetic for one cool yet old-school kid. 

A Celebration Style Guide 

A series of custom logos and patterns, a masculine color palette and an eclectic font system made up the meat and potatoes of Griffin’s bar mitzvah brand. To create consistency within variety, we featured these visuals hallmarks in different manifestations across every guest touchpoint, starting with a custom Paperless Post digital save the date.  

In a New Yorker-style cartoon, a loose line drawing of Griffin – dressed in his signature Jordans – animatedly teeters at the top of the Rock in a surreal Hora-disco scene, signaling the landmark party on the horizon. 

Suave Stationery

It wouldn’t be an old-world aesthetic without a print piece! We designed an invitation suite that successfully treaded the line between tasteful and youthful. With the pinstripe patterning, pops of blue and reappearance of the cartoon, the invitation recalled its digital counterpart. But the throwbacks went further than that. Every element, from the letterpress and blind embossed printing to the personalized letterhead bearing Griffin’s handwriting to the vintage reply postcard, echoed the New York glamour era that Rachel initially envisioned. 

I’m so proud of the amazing assets we created together. Working with you has been so much fun. Thank you so much!

Rachel Blumenthal
Bungalow 13 or Nowhere

Our visuals culminated in dazzling fashion when the Rainbow Room transformed into Bungalow 13, the evening extension of the Blumenthal bar mitzvah brand. Using some sleight of design hand, we customized the type in our Bungalow 13 logo so the “13” looks both like the number itself and the letter “B.” 

Set against that spectacular skyline where our designs all started, guests danced the night away while enjoying dishes from foodie Griffin’s favorite NYC eateries. We served up a menu in that same mid-century letterhead-style – complete with commentary from the guest of honor – as well as custom tissue paper for the ultimate personalized presentation. 

Event planning: Cassandra Bette Events
Event photography: Fred Marcus Studio
Floral and event design: Lewis Miller Design
Venue: Rainbow Room
Entertainment: MTM EventsCreative Games Inc.
Lighting: Fusion Productions
Rentals: Party Rental LTD.
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