Birds Barbershop

Birds Barbershop is an Austin-based salon-barbershop that’s been part of the city’s culture for over 20 years—known for high-quality cuts and a distinct, laid-back identity. Today, they operate nine locations across Austin and serve more than 20,000 customers each month.

I’ve worked with Birds since the beginning—designing the Birds Barbershop logo and helping shape and evolve the brand by developing visual motifs, systems, and environments that have grown alongside the city, evolving while staying distinctly Birds across locations and years.

Since the Beginning…

Birds co-founders

It all started in 2006 with an empty storefront—just a logo and a wall installation. That work has continued in different forms ever since, carrying through new locations, new ideas, and new expressions while always staying true to what makes Birds, Birds.

South Lamar installation

“Our company’s logo came from his classically modern inkwell, as did multiple large-scale mural installations. We owe a lot of our brands’ depth to Bryan—and will work with him until he gets too famous for us.”

— Michael Portman, Co-Founder of Birds Barbershop

A Visual Language

At its core, Birds is a visual language—built from repeatable elements, flexible rules, and a point of view that carries across everything from social campaigns to large-scale murals.

Over time, the work has become an act of cultural calibration—continually fine-tuning the brand to its environment, audience, and moment while keeping it unmistakably Birds.

The Birds Experience

Across Shops, Ephemera, and Digital Messaging

Shops

Birds shops are built as environments, not just places to get a haircut. The visual language expands across walls, mirrors, and moments in the space—creating something people experience, not just pass through.

East 6th (2024)
Inspired by photocopied textures and collage, the East 6th shop leans into density and motion—layering imagery to match the energy of the neighborhood while staying anchored in core Birds iconography.

Architecture & Interiors: Mark Odom Studio
Shop Photography: Anna Blackard

William Cannon (2023)
Reworking classic Birds motifs—disco balls, speakers, and cassette tapes—through a Memphis-style lens, this shop amplifies color, pattern, and repetition to create the brand at its most pop.

Architecture & Interiors: Mark Odom Studio
Shop Photography: Andrea Calo

Hancock (2010)
Combining clean line illustrations with soft, layered textures, these murals draw from ’70s American imagery and color—broadening the Birds visual language into a more textured, nostalgic direction.

South Lamar (2006)
The original location served as the launchpad for the Birds brand, anchored by massive, directly screenprinted wall art. Inspired by punk gig posters, vintage barbershop ephemera, and visual puns, it established a visual language that would carry forward for the next two decades.