Grubb's Pharmacy
Grubb's Pharmacy
Revitalizing the Grubb's Pharmacy brand.
Grubb's has compounded prescriptions on Capitol Hill since 1867. When it comes to a neighborhood-focused family-owned pharmacy, there weren't a lot of comparisons left. Because faceless big-box chains have replaced most independents, we had to carve a unique path.
A century-old independent, not a museum.
The risk in rebranding a business this old runs in both directions: sand off the history and it reads like every chain that replaced the independents, or lean on it too hard and it reads like a museum gift shop. The system splits the difference by acting its age. Black and white, almost no decoration. A mortar-and-pestle mark, a keystone-framed wordmark, an Rx roundel stamped SINCE 1867, and Gooper, a fat-faced serif drawn in adoration of Cooper and Bookman, doing the talking.
Design System
A pharmacy brand at home in its own century.
Black and white, a mortar-and-pestle mark, an Rx roundel stamped SINCE 1867, and Gooper's fat-faced serif. The system reads like a place that knows your name and has known it for a while.
Color Palette
Ink Black
Marks, type, brand book panelsMortar Cream
Warm ground, brand coverPaper White
Stationery, window vinyl reverseContrast Pairings
How the palette colors perform together: text on surface combinations ranked by contrast ratio.
Aa
Ink Black
Aa
Paper White
Aa
Ink Black
Aa
Mortar Cream
Type System
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Gooper
Headlines, signage, and brand lockups
Gooper Text
Guidelines copy, labels, and print
Marks & Lockups
Stamped, stitched, and stuck on.
The mark family behaves like pharmacy equipment: the mortar-and-pestle icon, the keystone-framed wordmark, and the Rx roundel each built to be embossed, embroidered, and printed on a sticker roll without losing their manners.
01Rx roundel
02Roundel on cloth
03Secondary mark
Capitol Hill's pharmacy since 1867.
Shipped to the shelf, the sidewalk, and the sleeve.
The identity shipped as objects: a printed brand book, a stationery kit, embroidered marks, window vinyl, a sandwich board for the sidewalk, and sticker rolls. The COVID-vaccinated roundel on the sticker roll dates the engagement precisely; the rest of the system is built not to date at all.
A second act: Grubb's Tea Lab.
The pharmacy opened a tea bar, and the system stretched to meet it. A set of logomark variations swaps the mortar for tea vessels (a cup, a pot, a tin) under the same keystone manners. Storefront vinyl and cups carry the line: delicious teas, steeped in history. Same brand, new counter.
Everything this brand is made of.
The marks, the palette, the type, and the designed work that carries them. One source feeds the live brand and this wall. Click any tile to open it.
Roundel · embroideredLogo & MarksRoundel · on clothLogo & Marks
Primary lockupLogo & MarksGuidelines · marksBrand GuidelinesGuidelines · Gooper specimenBrand GuidelinesStationery kitCollateralLetterhead + envelopeCollateralSticker rollCollateralWindow vinylEnvironmental GraphicsSandwich boardEnvironmental GraphicsStorefrontEnvironmental GraphicsTea Lab · logomarksBrand IdentityTea Lab · storefrontBrand IdentityTea Lab · cupBrand Identity
