development and alterations

I didn't really like the look of the font with reduced kerning, i just didn't think it gave the right look.
As i have always used reduced kerning on all my typography, i thought i would try something new, same with using a serif typeface.


Below is the original, just as it comes:

And then there's my version:

By using capitals not balances the whole thing out, (because before the letter T's made it look a little bit of a jumble) but it also helps the audience to read it a lot easier, if i didn't make the letter E on eat a capital both words would merge together and wouldn't be as easy to understand, because of the same colour used. However i will be using a different colour, more earthy colours to show that it's an organic food restaurant.

Now to add some colour, i will be using more warmer shades this time rather than the washed colours shown previously. I like the idea of using to separate colours again for each or the words like before. Doing it this way again makes it a lot clearer and easier to read.

For the colour scheme i wanted to choose colours that complemented each other, rather than to serve the purpose of separating to words.

Sticking to earth colours, made it a lot easier to fit colours that worked well together, as everyone thinks of greens and browns.

The colour contrast works really well with these colours, i will be keeping this colour scheme and will consider using it through other means, such as menu's, napkins etc.

I still think it needs a little something extra to make it look more classy, i kind of fell across this by accident as i was searching for symbols, i came across a fancy looking leaf on wingdings that i thought would work nicely.

I just finishes off the logo and adds a uniqueness to it. I have also included a sub title of organic restaurant to be used on shop fronts, menu etc. but could work without if necessary.

Now i have a logo, what to do next?

is this The One?

Dafont.com is most useful when searching for a specific font style. After searching through the number of pages that included serif fonts, i thought i would have to change my font style all together to sans serif, because i couldn't find anything that caught my eye.


However i found one that made me stick with using a serif:

Euphorigenic 

I really like the quirkiness of this font, it's a fun looking serif with the letter T's hanging lower than the rest. This just adds something a bit extra to the font, i also like the curls at the end of the A and C, again quirky but fits exactly what i was looking for.

A font that had a serif, but wasn't to harsh more soft, slightly rounded. GREAT! 

I also like how it carries a similar look to the previous font.

On the look out for fonts

I knew what type of serif i wanted to go for, which made it harder for me to find one that i liked. 
I didn't want it to do too harsh like Times New Roman, but i wanted it do be quite soft and a more rounded serif. As i couldn't find one that suited what i was looking for, i decided to look on DaFont.com, to see if could offer me anything, that caught my eye to be suitable.


I came across:

VTKS Estilosa, which looked like this.

I did like the look of this typeface, it fitted nicely with what i was after. I also thought i would work well in the earthy colours. However i didn't just want it to be on it's own, i wanted either a symbol or logotype to accompany it, as i thought it would look boring on it's own.

Below is a developed version:

After using colours and adding a fancy looking leaf, i decided this wan't the right font to use.

I don't know wether it's the colours i've used that make it look washed out, or the fact that the font itself is too thick to use with the leaf. As it doesn't seem to flow nicely, i would rather the leaf be on its own somehow and be made a feature. 

The font is far to chunky and more childlike, than for a fancy upmarket restaurant.

I personally think the font used will be crucial to how the restaurant is perceived, so it needs to be aesthetically pleasing and reflect the theme of the restaurant.

Hold Your Horses

As i haven't got a clear view in my mind on what the logo for my restaurant will look like, i wanted to look at some existing organic restaurant logos for inspiration.


I know i want my logo in a serif font, preferably with green/earth colours and a connection to the environment through an image, e.g leaf, stem, green swirl, etc. 


Below are a few logos with my ideas in mind:

I think its clever use of imagery, turning the fork into a tree, however the styling just wouldn't fit into the style i see for my own restaurant. The colours work well together, however i don't like how typography is lined up, organic food needs to be moved slightly to the right.

It probably works for the company it's portraying, but not the style i'm looking for at all.

I like the look of this font, it's very similar to the font used on the 'item' restaurant. However i feel it is let down by the image of the leaves. It makes it look cheap, it would have worked with  just the name. I will be taking into account how the stem flows off the letter g, i think this works ok with this particular font as it has nice serifs. However if it was an ordinary serif typeface such as Times New Roman, it wouldn't have the same effect as the serifs on that are straight.

Below depicts the same company just with different logos.

Out of the logos i have shown i like these ones the most, as they fit better with what i am after in terms of my own logo.

This is the first of two logos for the same company. The first aspect i am drawn to is the logotype, just because it includes the only bright colour. The colour also reinforces the name of the restaurant and the fact it's a leaf. I like the logotype, but i feel it's a little fussy and over powering compared to the typography used.

I like the font that is used, even though it's a serif typeface it still has a modern feel. Although i think it could have done with being a bit bolder to match the weight of strokes used on the logotype, as it seems to fade to the background because the logotype is bold.

This is updated logo for the green restaurant and i love the transformation! This has to be my favourite logo out of all of them shown, just because of its simplicity and use of colour.

Using the colour green for the word green works so much better than the previous logo, the name stands out a lot more which is just common sense.

The typeface used also suits it a lot better than the previous typeface, even though that one had potential also.

And last but not least my favourite part, the logotype. I love how the wine glass is made into a fork, it's quirky and memorable but also reinforces what the restaurant has to offer the customers. The leaf used is in it's simplest form, which echos the simplicity of the whole logo.

I love everything about this logo, and it shows that less is more when it comes to logo design.

After looking at the logos i have analysed, i will take into consideration what makes a good logo and what makes a bad one, so i can create a good one for my own restaurant.

Lettuce eat in style

Now i had my name, I had the theme of restaurant nailed. 
Keeping the name in mind, i decided on an organic themed restaurant, that uses both home grown and locally sourced produce within the courses.
The target audience will be 30-50yrs, aimed more for the mature and classy diner.


I want the restaurant to look classy and posh, so i'll will be going for a serif typeface for the name of the restaurant. I am a little dubious about using a serif, as i never have done before because i like modern, contemporary type. By using a serif is out of my comfort zone, but it's the only way to make my restaurant look more traditional.


Let the challenge begin.

names round two

I still wanted a quirky name for my restaurant, but now my choice is endless. 
I didn't really know where to start, so looked good restaurant names, however i was bombard by funny ones instead these where just a few:

There were others for other themed restaurants e.g  'Balti Towers' for an Indian restaurant and 'Pizza the action' for an italian. Both are really cheesy, but a great play on words and thats when i came up with my name.


I really don't no where it came from, just thinking of what people do in restaurants and i played on the fact of eating. Taken from what the vicar says in church, let us pray, but i twisted it to let us eat, trying to give the impression my restaurant was a place to worship food.


It then hit me, that let us, sounded like Lettuce, so in the end went for the name:

                                         'Lettuce Eat'

A fellow blogger

Whilst researching, class mates and I came across another graphic design student on blogger how had already done the mutton quad brief. 

They had taken the brief a completely different route to what i thought was expected from what the brief was asking.

Instead of naming the restaurant something to do with typography, they have focused on using typographic styling with the name. Which i think works better than the approach i was taking, the theme of the restaurant is asian fusion, which is depicted through the colour of the title and it's a speed dating restaurant, hence the name of the restaurant.

This has now made me feel more confident about the brief, i will now decide on a better name  for my own restaurant.

standing at the beginning

I decided on the word Initial for my restaurant, as i thought it sounded classy and the restaurant could be quite traditional.

Looking at the meaning on wikipedia, gave me an insight into what it meant, the word is derivedfrom the latin initialis, which means standing at the beginning.

Used in the first Greek texts, this gave the idea of making my restaurant greek style with the used of decorated initials at the beginning of paragraphs. However i feel the idea is slightly forced and not what i will enjoy doing, so i will think of alternatives.


Back to the drawing board.

names

As the restaurant has to be typographical themed, i was thinking of calling my restaurant a quirky name to do with type.


I was thinking of all the typically names such as:
Capital
Italic
Serif, etc


I just thought that they were the obvious choice and tad boring, so i decided to look deeper and at typeface/typographer, but even then nothing was really jumping out at me, all to boring or just didn't do it for me.

the chosen one

None of the ISTD brief's really stood out for me, so by re-reading them, the mutton quad brief was the only one that seemed appealing. As it was branding i felt confident enough to do it after Yo! sushi, however this time it was up to me to choose the target audience, styling etc. I will try and get it as far away from the Yo! sushi look as possible, for variety in my portfolio.

Lets get to it then.