Honouring a Dublin street poet whom the Zozimus bar takes its name from.
Zozimus is a high-end cocktail bar and restaurant located on the ground floor of Centenary house, Anne's Lane in Dublin. It is named in honour of the Irish street poet Michael J Moran (1794–1846), popularly known as Zozimus.
We were tasked with helping reposition the Zozimus brand, which previously had no obvious connection to the Dublin street poet other than the naming of the premises.
As the starting point, we commisioned Steven Noble to create of a custom woodcut style illustration of the poet (based on a dilapidated charcoal etching we discovered in our research), which gave us a recognisable character for the brand to take ownership of.
To compliment the new illustration, we developed a new wordmark and a range of copper printed materials, all of which were considerate of the era in which Zozimus lived; including business cards and a brand story book with clear foiling and gold staples; both using historical imagery depicting Dublin at the time.
Michael Moran was born about 1794 in Faddle Abbey, off Black Pitts, in the Liberties of Dublin, popularly known as Zozimus. He was an Irish street rhymer and also known as the "Blind Bard of the Liberties" and the "Last of the Gleemen".