Owners Kyle Sweet and Anna & Drew Mains came to us with a challenge: name and brand a new cocktail bar in Oklahoma City’s burgeoning Uptown 23rd district that celebrates post-Mad Men, pre-disco 1970s style with a modern, local twist. Oh, and also inspired by vintage Playboy magazine.

So we worked closely with them to create Rockford Cocktail Den, named in honor of Oklahoma’s own James Garner. We designed a sexy, stylish brand for “cool cats on the prowl” and established a brand platform with a (literally) cheeky tone and a wholly unique vibe to stand out amongst the city’s growing bar culture.

It’s not unusual for the Robot House team to discuss direction of the interior design of a client’s new business to ensure it clicks well with the brand standards, but we went above and beyond on our collaboration with Rockford—giving feedback on furniture and artwork before purchase, choosing paint colors and actually designing custom wallpaper for one of their main walls.

With vintage ‘Playboy’ magazine as an aesthetic inspiration, we partnered with photographer Simon Hurst on a photoshoot with local models to capture fun, flirty images with a spirit of provocative wholesomeness. We staged 5 different sets, bought vintage wardrobe, and art directed an entire library of images for Rockford to use in both print and interactive campaigns.