Joachim was in need of some vintage, weathered designs to use on his new Foodtruck in Gironde, France. With 5 years experience in the delicate Kamado arts, he contacted me via Fivver to make a logo mark to launch his business.
Food Trucks are the best. So accessible, so exotic, and always good. As a designer I enjoy simplicity, and the food truck is no exception. Joachim is the brains behind Jo's Smokehouse, A new concept food truck built on his 5 years of training in Bangkok in the art of the Japanese Kamado BBQ. With a commitment to always local produce and fair trade, Jo's smokehouse ticks all the boxes of a modern, mindful company.
THE CHALLENGE
Jo's Smokehouse came into my inbox with so much passion, but not so much direction. After a quick chat to get the breif confirmed we were ready to go. The challenge would be to create an American style Smokehouse logo, with a reference to the Kamado style. The image would need to be versatile and invincible, weathering all manner of bumps, dirt track roads, and rough customers. Limited to a three colour palette, this was a unique challenge I was excited to solve.
THE PREPARATION
Researching into well weathered logos I found a host of vintage signage. Each one clear, crisp, and almost invincible. Postal stamps and passport visa proved an excellent resource. That was my objective, to pull together the old western steak house logos, with big bold text and minimal detail. I wanted to produce something that could be branded on the meat, and still represent Jo's Smokehouse.
As with any Typography I approach I always start with a review of "Thinking with Type" by Ellen Lupton. A great read for anyone interested in how words work!
THE SOLUTION
After after a few concept meetings, Joachim came back to me with his preferences, the warm colors and gold detail. Classic choice.
The text is a Slab Serif typeface, to give the logo a serious and traditional feeling, with the O being replaced with the Kamado shape, as a visual flair. The fire was the client's preference as it really added a punch of color to the centre of the mark. As was my original intention some strong line breaks were added to give it a BBQ brand appearance. The gold was carefully added to the upper text, which outlines the key concepts of the business.
Thrilled with the result Joachim asked me to put together a quick concept for his new menu. In the same style as the logo, with a strong preference towards small pictorial icons. I created some copy to accompany the meals. The logo was made monochromatic (all one colour) and applied at the bottom right of the page as a "seal of approval".
To finish the work I put all the assets together in a mock-up to demonstrate the end result. Joachim was thrilled (20/20 thrilled). I created a simple pattern from the assets used in the menu (seen on the side of the truck) to finish off the design. The pattern can also be used as a napkin print.
Our last conversation saw Joachim preparing the graphics with a printer (which I am always happy to advise my clients with). Expect to see Jo's Smokehouse on the road early October, Gironde, France.
