When the phone rang and I heard Pat’s voice on the other end, I was thrilled. You see, I had submitted a proposal for this project months earlier, and hadn’t heard from him.  I made follow-up phone calls – even though I hate bugging people – But I did my follow-up seeing if he was interested in the original proposal I had submitted for the business branding of his start-up business. This had the potential to be an awesome graphic design project for our company. This was the start of working with Cork New York, a wine & spirits business.

Pat had been in the wine & spirits business for over 27 years located in Cortlandt Manor, New York. He came up here from the Bronx and opened a liquor store when there were not any in the area.

I got to know Pat when I went to meet him at his location in Westchester County, NY. We hit it off immediately. Pat is an extremely interesting, well-spoken, knowledgeable guy. I was mesmerized by his stories and his history, like how an Italian man carries the name Patrick, not Pasquale.

At that initial meeting he described an idea he had for a “different” type of liquor store. He wanted it to be an “experience”, not just a place people go to buy wine. He had visions of an open kitchen with a display chef cooking, music playing in the background and shelves of the best wines and spirits you could imagine. He was going for a “hard rock café”, SOHO type idea with an edgy feel to it. He wanted people to come to his store as an “event” not just to stock their shelves or purchase a gift.

To top it off, Pat proudly told me the name of his brain-child would be “CORK NEW YORK”. He wanted a quick, catchy, fun name that would stick in customer’s minds…. and come to the top of their mind when they’re thinking—let’s pick up a bottle of wine for our guests. Choosing a catchy name for a business is crucial as you establish your brand. You want people to remember you, so your name needs that special “hook”.

CORK NY was to be a wine warehouse of sorts—6000 sq. feet of funk-hip surroundings. Pat had his eye on a location on the highly trafficked Route 6 in Mohegan Lake NY, formerly Mohegan Electric. When the place became available, he pursued it, and got it.

After my initial meeting with Pat I went back to my studio, researched his competition, and got to work on a plan for his business to succeed. I listened closely to his ideas, trying to capture his vision.

I submitted our proposal as I saw the job. After discussing several points in our estimate, I didn’t hear from Pat for quite a while—several weeks and then months passed. I was disappointed thinking that Pat had chosen to hire another agency. But then that phone call came and he said “I’d like to talk to you about CORK NY”.  Hooray!

Here is CORK NEW YORK, now open in Mohegan Lake, NY. They are using a temporary sign while the real one is being produced. Notice how he is introducing his brand colors?
Stay tuned for PART 2!  I will tell you about our initial design exploration and how we arrived at the logo you see today.

If you would like to hear more of our design & marketing expertise, contact us! (914)582-9353