The Draft Window Graphics

Problem

The Draft Sports Grill was opening a new location, and it came with a lot of empty glass. They wanted the most marketing they could get for their budget. Window graphics are one of the best answers to that: window perf is more affordable than most printed marketing material, and windows are usually open, empty space that businesses never put to work. Instead of buying ad space somewhere else, the storefront itself becomes the ad.

Approach

Most restaurants fill their windows with food photography. The Draft already had really good branding, so I got to skip that entirely and work with what they had: bright green against black, bold shapes, no photos anywhere. That contrast made this a fun one to build.

The concept played on a retro, masculine feel aimed at their biggest audience. I illustrated two characters in that 1950s comic style you see in old cartoons. The first holds a draft beer out toward the viewer under the line "You Need a Draft," a play on the Uncle Sam poster with a beer swapped in for the pointing finger. Telling someone they need a draft does a little psychological work on its own; most people's first reaction is "yeah, I do need a draft." The second character stands by the entrance with his thumb pointed at the door under "Join the Draft," turning the same recruitment-poster idea into a welcome. One character makes the offer from the street, the other brings you through the door.