St. Louis’s Pastaria, the highly anticipated third restaurant from three-time James Beard Award nominee Gerard Craft, was envisioned as an environment where kids, adults, and food enthusiasts alike could enjoy a fantastic meal. Gerard described his vision in St. Louis Magazine:
“I see this as a kind of town hall — a lively, convivial place where people see their friends and neighbors and will get up to go visit with them. In Italy, it’s called an osteria — no tablecloths, nothing too fancy, but it’s where everybody goes to have supper and everybody’s equal.”
When Atomicdust was brought on board to brand Pastaria, we decided to build the brand’s visual identity around hand-drawn type and illustrations that would reflect the restaurant’s unpretentious, friendly atmosphere. Gerard had a very family-focused attitude when it came to the restaurant, so everything needed to be a little playful, a little handcrafted, but polished — just like Pastaria.
The logo’s red dot was inspired, simply, by pasta sauce. Its slightly irregular shape calls back to its origins as a splatter (rather than a circle).
The bright and whimsical concept was further expressed with youthful illustrations, including a three-wheeled delivery truck, children enjoying pasta wrapped around oversized forks, and anthropomorphized noodles (with names like Gustavo Garganelli and Roberto Rigatoni).
Materials included menus, to-go pizza boxes, stickers, check holders, t-shirts, olive oil labels, and wooden nickles that could be traded for gelato.
We also designed Pastaria’s website, optimized for viewing on iPads and mobile devices.
More from Atomicdust.
Comments
I really enjoyed this branding. You can see how it would appeal to families and I enjoy the youthful feel it gives off. The catch phrase is clever as well. The wooden nickles is a great idea. Sort of reminds me of a restaurant that just opened in my town called the works. They literally have a “canadian tire” burger, that you can pay for with canadian tire money. Ideas like that is what is going to go a long way for a business.
Like Brett, I really enjoyed this.
It’s one of those brands that you can understand immediately, which is a sure sign of good work in my book. Even from the information and pictures, I can get a decent idea of what the dining experience and atmosphere of the place would be like. I also love the little touches like the wooden nickel, the smiling menu, etc.
The entire thing is great work: the concept behind the restaurant, the obvious passion for food, the branding concept and the overall execution. I love it, and now I want to go to the restaurant to see if the food is as good as it looks.
Like the sixties pizza box.
Bit inconsistent on the rest. Like the playfulness of the menu cover but would have stuck with the simple intelligence and simplicity of the pizza box look. Sasek. http://www.miroslavsasek.com/
I am in love with this branding! The menu looks great and the website is so clean yet playful. I used to work for a pizza place and although they have a great logo their website and menu is so outdated. This is great inspiration for making them a new design pitch!