While at Fame Retail, I was asked to take a look at redesigning the identity for a local restaurant named Cafe Di Napoli. Serving traditional pizza, pasta, salads and other options, Cafe Di Napoli is the oldest Italian restaurant in the twin cities. After moving from its original location, the restaurant wanted to rebrand themselves as more of a quick lunch option for skyway travellers rather than a full service sit-down experience.

We needed a system that would do two things at once. On one hand we needed to honor the history of the establishment while creating a presence that was casual and approachable.

The logo for the restaurant was created using an altered Neutra Display Titling face along with Trade Gothic for subsequent type. The Neutra gave the mark a defining characteristic while the Trade Gothic offered over its casual pedestrian feeling for the new skyway location. Colors an patterning were taken from existing elements. The pattern itself was lifted from the iconic tablecloths that are used in the dining area.
Custom printed cups and pizza boxes were created to ensure brand recognition using elements from the identity.

While the new Cafe Di Napoli isn’t the fancy sit-down restaurant it used to be, they do offer a charming dining room for lunch patrons to relax and enjoy. We figured the world has enough advertising and you don’t need to be bombarded with messaging while you enjoy your spaghetti. These “brand art” pieces ranged from something around 18 x 24 inches to 4 x 5 feet, and were created with chopped up pieces from the identity along with vintage passport scans and found imagery of Vesuvio and Napoli.

The project received a posting on Lovely Package, The Dieline & Design Work Life, among others.

Art Direction: Bruce Edwards & Cheryl Meyer
Design: Gregory Hubacek