Crafting a brand identity that invites community through a shared love of Italian American classics, natural wine & gathering around the table to promote LA-based pop up Abbiocco Italian Foods
Project Summary
Abbiocco Italian Foods is a (you guessed it) Italian American foods and natty wine pop up originated in the Bay Area, now located in LA (and currently on hiatus). The idea for Abbiocco was born in one of those classic Noe Valley Victorian apartments my husband and I lived in. Like any good chef (him) + designer (me) duo, we had big dreams of owning our own restaurant one day, and the pandemic seemed like a great time to bring our dreams to life. (I say that somewhat unironically.)
He wanted to take the actual blood, sweat and tears he had poured into his two decade plus career and create a space that paid homage to his Italian American upbringing while taking advantage of the incredible product we have in California. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to leverage my passion for design and storytelling to help bring his vision to life—to open a restaurant and build a real community of people who shared a love for the “red sauce” foods they grew up on, but valued using the best possible product available, who loved natty wine because it’s delicious and it’s low intervention, and who believe that coming together over good food and good wine is one of the greatest gifts we have as humans.
The best selling point for aspiring restauranteurs is proof that you know what you’re doing. Abbiocco needed to start making food for people as quickly as possible, and in order to get people signed up for our pop ups, we needed a brand identity that connected with people. Although not currently running, the full scope of this project included branding, posters, social media content, a website and a business proposal to attract potential investors. I stretched my business and creative limits for this project, and I hope that one day we’ll be inviting people into our brick and mortar restaurant.
Services
Brand Identity
Brand Strategy
Graphic Design
Illustration
Web Design
My Role
Owner, Designer, Social Media Manager, Event Manager, Host, Server, Cook 😅
Logos
Primary Logo
A Developing Brand Identity
As the business itself has continued to evolve, so too has the branding. What Abbiocco was—the concept, the menu, the restaurant—all went through a number of iterations as we developed the business proposal, considered investment implications and reacted to the changing economy.
As we shifted our long-term vision away from the old school “red leather booths & Sinatra over the speakers” style of restaurant and into a more modern, European-style natty wine bar, the visual references also started to shift away from mid century inspired design into the art nouveau-meets-California cool.
The “final” logo marks still reflect the playfulness and whimsy we wanted to inject into our brand (inspired by our name), but became more refined over time.
The color palette, image and illustration styles went through a similar evolution, reflecting in real time the evolution of Abbiocco.
Mascot
Social Logo
Colors, Fonts, Imagery & Illustrations
Getting Playful with Visual Design
Most—if not all—of the communication between Abbiocco and our audience was happening through Instagram. That was where we were announcing our pop ups, where I was taking reservations—it was how we built the business. It became vital to develop an eye-catching visual style to start defining who we were as a brand, and excite people before they had an opportunity to experience Abbiocco in person.
We didn’t have any photography of our food to use before our first event so I decided to make an illustration to give us something to play with. The spaghetti squiggle kicked off a series of custom illustrations that gave us a unique look, and spoke to the playfulness of the brand. Like everything else, the pop up poster visual shifted over time to leaning more heavily on photography and informational design, but these early visuals helped clarify how we showed up online and in the world.
A To-The-Point Website
Like all things with Abbiocco, the site has evolved to best suit the current needs and goals of the business. Initially we used our site to provide more information about ourselves and the goal of the business, including a link to our business proposal for potential investors, but as our business switched into primarily focusing on pop ups and then slowed down altogether as we both went back to full time work, the purpose shifted towards providing an abbreviated taste of who we are, and directing people towards our Instagram.
