ISTD / Further Investigation

Following on from my initial research and design ideas, I needed to broaden my knowledge about restaurants and get a better feel for what's out there already, and what's working in context. Following on from the crit it was evident that there was a lot of questions that still needed answering before I started trying to put an identity together...

The sort of design approach I'll be pursuing - Will I be using hand rendered illustrations to exploit one's type or digital media? The 'style' of the designs will have a huge impact on the mood of the restaurant, if something looks solely digital it takes away the traditional, calming feel of the restaurant 


I've decided to introduce the theme of type through the manipulation of type, shown through the restaurants branding/ logo & products, (without jeopardising the structural significance of type)

Is the title 'Mutton Quad' viable for its contents or could there be a more out-standing title that reflects the business's identity better? I need to solve this almost instantly before I start designing anything, if I don't the communication of my designs could become shrouded and mis-interpreted

After developing my ideas, I've decided to stick with Mutton Quad as a main title and introduce a sub-title 'JUSTIFIED KERNING' this will hopefully strengthen the concept of type and work alongside the logo.

The reason I've decided to stick with Mutton Quad is because it ultimately means (a quad with a square body) Now your asking whats the reason for 'Justified kerning' then?

Well the visual representation of Justified and Kerning combined (Like the combination of my logo) represents a structural and uniform character with a strong representation of a square body.

Will the main focus be on type or illustration?

I've almost decided to go halfway, creating visuals through the use of type

AM I ALLOWED TO ALTER THE BRIEF SO THAT TYPE ISN'T THE MAIN FEATURE? I really need to figure this out because this will obviously determine my approach.

I'm allowed to change the brief to a degree but there has to be relevance to the initial brief, therefore I have to keep the idea of type BUT I can introduce this theme subtly instead of focusing every aspect of the restaurant on letters as such.

I need to know what are the most comfortable features of a restaurant? if the consumer feels uncomfortable asking for things or sitting in the chairs, it will totally ruin their experience.

The atmosphere
The seating
The presentation of food

Has the structure of food and type been combined and used in a restaurant environment before

All the different aspects that make up a restaurants identity, e.g. menu's, drink mats, Point of sale displays, exterior, interior, branding...what else is there?

What's more attractive to most consumers... the restaurants ethos or the restaurants identity?

What colour schemes would be more appropriate than others?

A guide to meat cuts...

http://www.mealsforyou.com/cgi-bin/customize?meatcutsbeef.html

Restaurant related information...

http://www.sheknows.com/home-and-gardening/articles/979319/6-best-wine-glasses-made-from-recycled-glass

http://www.anthropologie.eu/en/uk/fresh-cuts/home/icat/homefreshcuts/&itemsperpage=100&isviewall=1&bklist=icat,6,shop,sale,shopbysale,freshcutssale,homefreshcuts

http://www.squaregear.net/fonts/free3of9.shtml

http://www.salesreceiptstore.com/fake_receipt_templates.html

Potential idea for my branding, it even looks similar to the logo I'd be placing on the top of tables.

For the identity of the restaurant I'd use a similar approach to this...using the core logo on the side of the arm and the Title and subheading where the text is placed on the right of the picture below.

Receipt typeface...

Standard Receipt sizes...

I could incorporate a similar theme in my restaurant and apply the final design to various products (altering the size) such as cocktail mixers! The primary idea for this product would be to hold the table number and also act as a signifier to servers to check the food/ quality.

Initial research into colour and its meanings...

Choice of type / I could spend hours trawling through various websites for a font that's suited to my identity, BUT I've found a much more efficient and effective way to chose a typeface...it's called 'wordmark.it' allowing you to type in your desired name, and see what typeface fits with the attitude your trying to portray...

As you can see, the bottom right typefaces are 'Azoft Sans'...the typeface I've chosen to develop further!! - manipulating the distance between its characters and its height of letters will hopefully give me the approach I've been visualising...It looks contemporary, modern and also stands out in a casual manner.