BABYBAR
A pop-up bar in a 131-year-old industrial garage. South Bend, Indiana. October 2025.
THE CONCEPT
In the fall of 2025, we turned a vacant industrial garage in South Bend into a one-night pop-up bar, in collaboration with Permit Pending and Vested Interest. BABYBAR was a small, temporary bar that doubled as a love letter to tight, intimate hospitality: the kind of room where you don't need much more than a few seats, a short drink list, and an excuse to brush shoulders. The name defined the scale and the mood. Small, close, a little bit reckless, instinctively romantic. BABYBAR borrows from a long tradition of bars where the constraint is the concept: Tokyo's Golden Gai, Berlin's Kneipe culture, Mexico City's natural wine pop-ups. Small rooms, short menus, the space itself as the experience.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 7PM - LATE
OCTOBER 3, 2025 7PM - LATE
~200 GUESTS
THE MOOD BOARD
The references circled around a few recurring instincts. Warmth trapped inside rough spaces. Retro without kitsch. Red everywhere, in neon, in paint, in upholstery, as a through-line that felt equal parts romantic and confrontational. Handmade touches that reward close attention: poems in gumball machines, handwritten menus, beaded curtains catching light. European aperitivo culture filtered through Midwest resourcefulness.
VISUAL IDENTITY
COLOR PALETTEBABY RED
#C41E1E
NIGHT
#0A0A0A
MOODLINEN
#F5F2EE
TYPOGRAPHY
HOUSE DRINKS / MENU /
SOUTH BEND / 7PM TILL LATE
Display: custom bubble lettering, hand-drawn for signage and primary mark.
Supporting: monospaced uppercase for menus and wayfinding
SIGNAGE EXPLORATIONS
THE BUILD
THE ROLLOUT
Before the first night, we ran a TikTok and Instagram series documenting the build in real time. The garage went from empty to open in a matter of weeks, and we brought people along for it. Promoted via Eventbrite and email, sold out both nights.