Description

From Super Keen:

The Mandarin is a beautiful café and bar tucked into Two Bridges. Founded by a Chinese-Canadian and Dutch couple, the space reflects this collision of culture and identity as New York transplants.

They came to use with a name and from the beginning, the concept of luck became our anchor. In Chinese culture, mandarins are symbols of prosperity and good fortune, their roundness representing fullness and continuity. The number 8 carries similar meaning, tied to wealth and success, while the number 4 is considered unlucky. These ideas became small winks, like removing the number 4 entirely and counting instead from 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8.

“Mandarin” is an eight-letter word, and that simple fact unlocked a system that felt almost too good to be true. We built a modular typographic approach where each letter could move, orbit, repeat, and reconfigure—forming circles, patterns, or quiet compositions across space.

We developed the brand in parallel with the architecture, ensuring the physical space and identity worked as one. Rather than layering graphics onto a finished environment, we created something cohesive—where materials, light, and typography all speak the same language.

Van Zee Sign Co. was commissioned for the gold foil gilded logo, manually painted onto the windows for a subtle and elegant signage application. It catches the light just enough to draw you in and creates lovely shadows inside the space while you enjoy the best coffee Manhattan has to offer.