Chameleon Cantina: A Restaurant Branding Project
For one of my first projects in my final semester, I had the opportunity to create a visual branding identity project for a restaurant. We had to come up with different ideas for our theme for the restaurant, which included the type of cuisine, location, atmosphere, and audience. We started sketching some iterations for two of our strongest ideas and moved forward with one. The concept I moved forward with was a Tex-Mex theme with a chameleon as the primary imagery.
Logo Iterations
We created different logo styles; a symbol, a wordmark, and a combination of both options. It was fun exploring having the chameleon as a mascot or just playing with the wording. After condensing down the concepts, I moved forward with these concepts.
After vectorizing the concepts, I went with the strongest concepts and explored possible color combinations for the overall vibe:
In the end, this was the strongest contender and what I moved forward with:
MENU
LAYOUT
EXPLORATIONS
We then had to design the overall layout and look for the menu. I explored a theme with some of my mark-making styles, which proved to be the strongest iterations.
STATIONARY
CONCEPTS
We also had to design stationery that showcased what the theme would look like on business cards and letterheads. Here are some of the concepts below:
MERCHANDISE
In addition to a menu and stationery, we had to concept some potential items that would be featured in our stores. Here are the concepts:
After creating the designs, I added color to see what could work on different items like to-go cups, containers, hot sauce bottles, and fun packages. I took elements from both ideas and combined them into one concept. After consolidating the choices, I moved forward with the final catalog of items.
FINAL ITERATIONS
MENU DESIGN
STATIONARY
FINAL THOUGHTS
Looking back, this was a fun exploration of various styles of work combined to make a unique take on a restaurant. If there were some things I could do differently revisiting this project, I'd explore other layouts and ways to showcase the styles I had created. I would've also pushed to see more iterations for how the visuals could've looked on different elements. Overall, super happy with how this turned out. I hope you all enjoy it!
