October 3, 2024
Santorini: logo design for a fine-dining restaurant
Sometimes you work on a project that—due to circumstances outside of your purview—gets canceled before coming to fruition. Such was the case with Santorini, a Greek fine-dining restaurant that was to open here in Lexington. Before the endeavor was cancelled, the owner hired yesIsaid to create a logo design and a brand guidelines document for the restaurant.
Restaurant logo design: moodboard and inspiration
The first thing I needed to consider when designing a logo for this restaurant was the planned appearance of the dining space, the aesthetic and intention behind the menu, and the way the logo would appear as signage—especially within the context of other business’ signage on the same building.
INTERIORS
The planned interiors featured earthy textures with muted blue accents, and distinctive wooden slats on the ceilings. The vibe was to be breezy, Mediterranean, and organic.
EXTERIOR
The logo needed to work with a similar sign fabrication method as the rest of the signage along the front of the building.
FOOD
The menu was to feature elevated Greek cuisine with a rustic inflection, emphasizing meat, fish, and vegan options. The restaurant was to have as its focal point a large, wood-fired stove—the heat and centrality of which might evoke the volcano at the center of the islands of Santorini.
Island inspiration: Greek chic
The islands of Santorini are rich with history, iconic architecture, signature textures, and a few key landmarks. For the first round of logo concepts, I took inspiration from the shape of the group of islands as seen from a satellite, iconic landmarks such as the windmills of OIa, endemic textures like a particular cobblestone/masonry pattern made of rounded, volcanic black rocks joined by Santorini’s signature white mortar, and the tiered bell towers seen in the island’s villages. I wanted to convey a quiet, elegant, ancient, meditative, rustic, and breezy vibe with these designs.
Logo designs: 1st round
Informed by the research above, I created the following logo concepts and variants for the client’s review. It is crucial that a logo function in a one-color format, so I presented these designs in black as proof-of-concept.
Concept 1: Primal Island
The shapes of the Santorini islands rendered as if painted on the walls of a cave; rounded, sans-serif type could be stamped on a freighter out in the bay. Or, perhaps, the letters are backlit and blurred by the light of the Mediterranean sunset.
Concept 2: Cobblestone Island
Some clever mason has embedded the shape of the islands into the pavement, or a wall, spelling out the archipelago in smooth, black stones delimited by white mortar. A vintage typeface straight from an antique tourist brochure evokes feelings of nostalgia for a relaxing time.
Concept 3: Oia Cityscape
You’re at a restaurant in Oia, sitting down for a sunset meal. You look across at the iconic lighthouses, and one is framed by the descending sun—it couldn’t look more perfect. An elegant sans-serif typeface with a cheeky R has a quiet art-deco vibe, and has you ready to enjoy the a delicious meal.
Concept 4: Windmillsterisk
Six wooden slats or poles are stacked together in a makeshift asterisk. No, wait, you recognize that shape now—it’s the windmill you saw in Santorini, as if you were standing in front of it looking up. The letters seem to be made of the same materials, retired windmill arms upcycled into a restaurant logo.
Concept 5: Ancient Iron
You’ve seen this simple pattern around the island: on ancient amphorae, manhole covers, restaurant menus – everywhere. You wonder if it’s a quiet symbol of island solidarity shared for centuries amongst locals and those in the know.
Concept 6: Bell Tower
The architecture in the village is a study in repetition of form. Take the tiered bell towers on top of the thousand churches here, for example. They are beacons of familiar sounds, familiar shapes, calling us to commune.
Logo designs: 2nd round
The client wanted to move forward with the island logomark from the first concept, combined with the logotype from the final concept. To make the forms cohere more harmoniously, I rounded the corners of the letterforms in the logotype to echo the round forms of the island mark. I presented the new version in three different colorways, along with lockup variants for use at various sizes and aspect ratios.
Variation 1
This is the requested combination of the island icon from Concept 1, and the type from Concept 6. The only change is a slight rounding of the terminals of the letters to unify the form languages of the two elements, and to create a juxtaposition of hard and soft that echoes elements of the interior design of the restaurant.
Colorway 1
Warm neutrals of clay and soil frame the iconic blues of the village of Santorini, mellowed by the light of the golden hour. Colorway 1 is rich, warm, organic, and elegant – without being stuffy.
Variation 2
Variation 2 takes the letterforms of Variation 1 and adds some extra flare to the A and the R. The removed crossbar of the A leaves a more recognizably Greek ‘alpha’ shape; the R takes an early turn before closing its top loop, making all of the letters share a single-line appearance, and offering a welcome lightening of density in that area of the wordmark. This lettering option is truly custom: every letter has been altered from its original form.
Colorway 2
Sky blue, navy, stucco, brass, and coffee create a classic accord that is at once marine and earthy—a reference to classic colors of the Greek isles. The most familiarly ‘Greek’ of the colorways, it’s an upscale spin on a palette often associated with Greek cuisine.
Variation 3
Variation 3 offers one final type alternative, opting this time for a typeface with rounded corners and varying stroke widths that I think is the most upscale option of the three. Admittedly, this typeface has less immediate impact and legibility than the first two, but it has a delicate, quiet elegance that befits a truly upscale dining experience.
Colorway 3
Colorway 3 is a breezy, pastel accord that evokes nostalgia and introspection. Bronze, sand, and shades of sea glass and celadon combine in a palette reminiscent of vintage beach resort opulence.
The client selected Variation 1 and its colorway to use as the identity for the restaurant. I created an archive of logo files and built a brand guidelines document, and completed my part of the Santorini project. It is my understanding that budgetary concerns caused the owner to abandon the endeavor. I wish I could have proceeded to designing menus, signage, a website, and various other branded collateral for the restaurant, but alas—it was not to be.
Brand guidelines for a restaurant that was not to be
I’ll leave you here with the brand guidelines document I prepared. Perhaps the client will end up using the brand for a future attempt at opening Santorini—only time will tell.
Do you need to develop a logo and brand for your restaurant or other business? Contact yesIsaid today to schedule a free consultation.
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