Design Process: Sardines restaurant identity
Identity: Define Characteristics
In order to begin with an identity, I always start by defining and expanding upon the desired brand characteristics. In this example, I wanted to develop a restaurant brand that portrayed characteristics of class, quality, uniqueness, and was based on ethical, sustainable practices.
Identity: Research
Research is vital to good design. I began this example by researching the look and feel of similar restaurants. The goal was to establish a fit within the target market and yet to create a unique quality to stand out. Upon my further research, I felt that the name "Sardines" was unique, easily identifiable as a seafood restaurant name, and learned that sardines are currently one of the most sustainabile fish to harvest (Seafood Watch's report).Wordmark: Typography
The challenge became to take a well-known fish associated with canning and establish it as a high-quality restaurant. Typing the word out on-screen in a few typefaces, it was quickly apparent which direction to take the wordmark -- using the familiarity of sardines in a can; I could already see it wanting to form in all caps.
Word association brought me to thinking about the Mediterranean since so much fish is eaten there, including sardines. So I went in search of a condensed typeface that would also look high-class and old-world European. The letters needed to be tall and thin, and with some sense of flair. I came upon Eccentric Std, which reminds me of the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods, which fit perfectly into the feeling I knew was needed.
Further modifications were needed in order to transform the typeface into a wordmark, however. The Eccentric typeface wasn't condensed enough, and definitely didn't look like fish squished into a can. I altered the typeface into custom lettering. Afterwards I added the tag line "Oceanic Cuisine" to emphasize the type of business.
Identity to Application
Supplementary images were needed to further the look of the brand. More research into sardines revealed unique methods of harvesting them. Light fishing seems to draw the fish up to the surface in a spiral pattern, and it's a method used off the Mediterranean coast. I still wanted to continue on the Art Deco/Art Nouveau appearance, so I decided to use organic line work to simulate what the sardines spiraling up to the surface might look like. I felt it'd make a good backdrop if I kept it in cool, Mediterranean colors, like cyan.
I often take to the sketch pad in order to work through a design problem. It is especially useful for 3D items. This helped me brainstorm the ideas for a unique invitation and business card design with the established identity and supplemental images.
What followed was a lot of thinking in digital-form. I experimented with adding various colors and typefaces. I tried a cool Mediterranean coral color, red and pink (like the inside of the fish), yellow for the common lemons served with grilled sardines, and several other colors. I tried different papers (note the ivory paper just looked yellow next to the cyan). Finally I landed on chocolate brown, but it needed broken up to read as brown (instead of black). So I pulled part of the line work onto the back of the card, too.
Completed Design
This project spilled over into an invitation and menu as well, shown below. As with any design project, it demonstrates my drive to get a project right, no matter what it takes.
Referenced on
this page:
Seafood Watch report on sardines
Bumble Bee sardines image copyright Bumble Bee