2009 SEGD Design Awards: Big Apple Meets Arch

When the owners of B & T Pizza relocated from pizzeria-saturated NYC to St. Louis, they hired Kuhlmann Leavitt Inc. (St. Louis) to create clean, up-to-date environmental graphics. Deanna Kuhlmann Levitt, the firm’s principal, said the name stands for “Bridge and Tunnel,” a NYC reference to those who live outside Manhattan and use bridges and tunnels to access the island. She continued, “The pizzeria set up in what had been a retail space redeveloped from an old hotel. The client wanted to keep a raw, industrial look without looking undeveloped.”

Leavitt said creating a transportation-oriented design vernacular without taking it too serious proved to be a project challenge. Transportation-themed elements include white LEDs that run the length of the pizzeria’s longest wall and diagonal, road-hazard stripes.

Executing B & T’s sign required a diverse cast of players (the client hired them based on Kuhlmann Leavitt’s referral, she said). Nordquist (Minneapolis) fabricated its exterior blade sign; Lithographix (Hawthorne, CA) produced the pizzeria’s interior, mesh-vinyl banner; The Designery (St. Louis) designed and installed its menuboard graphics; and Vinyl Images and Design (St. Louis) produced and applied the graphics for its unique delivery car.