Andre Rush
Chef to the stars & world leaders
- Signature
- Power and presence. A chef known as much for his strength as his cooking.
- In the concept
- Arms crossed with a cleaver and chef's knife, set against Animl's red leopard. The pose does the talking.
A King West steakhouse where dinner is a performance. Two years of campaigns built to make every night feel like an invitation.
Cocktail Den · Launch
The brand was already set. My job was to give it something to say every week, and a new reason to walk through the door.
01
When Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette hit free agency, his favourite steakhouse wrote him a personal invitation to stay: steak for life, if he re-signed with Toronto.
For Bo, engraved
Animl SteakhouseToronto, Ontario
Animl Steakhouse Dear Bo Bichette, Toronto suits you. Steak for life on us. No negotiations. No fine print.
January 2026
The envelope · sealed in waxThe letter · Animl's offerThe knife · engraved with his nameThe post · three slides, January 2026
“ Steak for life on us. No negotiations. No fine print. Just a standing reservation at our table. ”
This was never meant to look like an ad. It was designed as a private invitation from a restaurant to one guest: an envelope addressed to Bo in script, a red wax seal pressed with the Animl bull, and a letter written in the restaurant's own voice, opening with "Toronto suits you."
The offer needed something he could hold. So his seat got its own steak knife, engraved with his name under the Animl script, the kind of detail regulars notice and the press loves.
Turn a sports headline into a restaurant moment. Animl doesn't sell to Bo, it invites him in.
Envelope, script, wax seal, letter typography and the engraved knife, art directed as one personal set.
Picked up by CP24, NOW Toronto and Streets of Toronto within days, and a second chapter six months later.
Coverage of A Note for Bo and the Bo Dog, 2026
$126 Bo Dog
He signed with the Mets. We kept our promise anyway.
A promise doesn't expire when the answer is no. Animl put Bo's name on the menu: the Bo Dog, priced at $126 to match his $126 million deal and served when the Mets came to Toronto, with proceeds going to charity. Wagyu, lobster, foie gras and gold leaf, shot on a pile of baseballs in front of Animl's velvet. The idea carried on, now with a punchline.
02
When dinner service ends, Animl's room turns into a lounge. Cocktail Den is the weekly night that tells the city the bar stays open late, with one name and a new world every edition.
Concept
Round one: the woman and the cat share the frame
Final In motion
Launch, June 5: the cocktail goes straight to the animal
Aug 14 · The Lion
Oct 9 · The Diamond Drip
Jan 29 · The Winter Escape
Apr 30 · The Spring Return
In motion Summer editions, animated for stories
In motion Late-summer editions, animated for stories
Treat a weekly bar night like a fashion house treats a season. Same name, new collection.
Fixed lockup, logo and date block. Free image world, palette and mood per edition.
Each world is art directed from scratch, then animated so the posters move in stories and reels.
03
One series frame, but every chef brings their own world. Each campaign is built from that chef's signature: their craft, their tools, their reputation.
Chef to the stars & world leaders
Master butcher
Celebrity chef, Montreal
What stays the same
The series frame keeps the collection recognizable: Animl script, Chef Collab title stack, the gold light sweep and a quiet details block. Everything inside it changes with the chef.
04
A new weekly ritual needed its own name on the table. I designed the Sunday Roast wordmark, then built the whole launch around it.
Applied · the wordmark becomes the place card
Step 1 · Tease the date
Step 2 · The invitation
The invitation is a table setting.
On the invitation, the wordmark is printed on a place card and set on an antique silver plate with an Animl knife and fork. The teaser shows only the card and the date, 1.11. The invitation adds the details underneath. Guests see the name the same way they'll meet it at the table.
05
A birthday behind a buzzer.
A private Leo-season birthday: dinner, then a cocktail party. The invitation is a gloved finger pressing an intercom where one button reads "Sacha's Birthday". You're not just invited. You're being let in. The after-party poster, A Journey of House, carries the same night into a darker, slower mood.
The invitation
The after-party
06
One image, one line, no clutter.
Holidays and private parties get the Animl treatment. Each one is built around a single strong image and a single line, so the poster reads in a second on a phone and still feels like an invitation.
Valentine's
New Year's Eve
Private birthday
