Le Hein – Flanders Food Space

The French hein can mean a couple of things: something like “hey!”, but also “isn’t it?” and “sorry, what did you say?”. It’s not so much a word as a spontaneous utterance that you’ll understand instinctively when it pops up. Add the definitive article le and it becomes precisely a bar-restaurant in Lille, France.

Le Hein is one of three taprooms in French Flanders run by Brique House, a local craft brewery with a strong stance on regional identity, products and cuisine – plus a cosmopolitan outlook, as the mix of French and English shows.

Responsible for the visual communication of both Brique House and Le Hein is Nash and Young, a branding agency with branches in Paris and Lille. Le Hein is presented as pas normal etaminet, i.e. not your usual tavern. This deviant quality is reflected by upside-down words, distorted letterforms, and symbols that include UFOs and burning planets.

Apart from the colors black and yellow – signaling danger (think bees), but also Flanders – the visual identity fully relies on distinctive typefaces. To a minor extent, the unconnected script-sans hybrid G2 Ciao by Gruppo Due is used. However the leading part lies with Signal Compressed and Kreuz, both primarily designed by Emmanuel Besse and published by Production Type.

The way these ingredients are used refers back to the French lettering tradition in which the combination of bold upright caps and script played an eminent role. Considering the contemporary feel of the typefaces the design thus reflects well the two-sided character of the business.