Where’s the beef? Bang brands Charlie & Co.

When the new Charlie & Co. Burger venture launched late last week inside the much anticipated Westfield on Pitt Street, Sydney-based creative communications agency Bang breathed a sigh of relief… and satisfaction.

Justin and Georgia North, the prolific restaurateur couple behind Sydney foodie institutions Becasse, Etch and Plan B, selected Bang after seeing their work for the suburb of Glebe and the City of Sydney. After establishing a shared ethos of integrity, passion and creativity, together they set to work on developing the new burger bar brand.

Bang worked with Justin and Georgia in the initial stages of the project to ensure a unanimous vision was in place. Bang then played a critical role in developing the story for Charlie & Co., ensuring the concepts brought to life the brand experience for the customer. Using touches of copper and the word “co.”, the concept set out to reflect the ideology of “respect and value” given to all the producers, suppliers and people that would come together to create Charlie & Co.’s not so humble burger. The mix of copper foiling and rust contrasting against rough textures and uncoated fibrous stock are designed to create harmony between the embellished and the ordinary.

The design and production work that followed was one of the smoothest ever managed by Bang – from concept to realisation, the final pieces produced were almost identical to the concepts originally presented in the initial presentations.

Equally important was the need to ensure the collateral and packaging completed the burger experience promised by Justin and Georgia – not just in terms of quality, but also in the use of locally sourced, sustainable materials.

Says Georgia North: “It’s been a pleasure partnering with Bang to make it all happen. They firstly took the time to understand our vision, then brought it to life with a range of conceptual design options each underpinned with strategic rationale and a ‘story’ that can be applied to interiors, menus, the website – the entire creative scope.”

Adds Samantha Fardoulis, creative director at Bang: “It’s refreshing to work with a client that shares a passion for creating a unique customer experience, along with a healthy respect and understanding for the creative processes. There’s actually quite a bit of synergy between the design process and the art of food – it’s a personal expression of who you are in many ways. We wanted to create something beautiful which also satisfied the brief, and the fact that Justin and Georgia trusted us ‘with their baby’ was quite an honour.”

Inspired by the late Charlie “Hamburger Charlie” Nagreen, one of the original founders of the hamburger in the state of Wisconsin, USA, the Charlie & Co. burger celebrates the producer as hero. The Co. in the name literally represents all of the wonderful local food producers that Justin and Georgia North work with to craft their food.

Agency: Bang, Sydney

Account Executive: Caitlin Betts