Ipanema is a family-owned Brazilian restaurant in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. Originally opened on Little Brazil street in 1979, the restaurant, over the last four decades, has entrenched itself as the quintessential destination for Brazilian fare in New York City. Having been forced to close during the pandemic and under the leadership of the original founder’s sons, Ipanema was reopened in a new space and with a more upscale offering. We were asked to build on the existing brand identity in a way that supported the owner’s vision of the restaurant in its most recent iteration.

Our objective was to give Ipanema a rebrand that simultaneously reflected its namesake beach and its midcentury Bossa Nova spirit while also giving it the look and feel of an iconic Midtown Manhattan, which, of course, it already is. We chose the parrot as the brand’s symbolic mascot because of the Brazilian tradition of passing this family pet down from generation to generation within a family.