Inferno is a hole in the wall restaurant in NY inspired by food from all over the country, a mix of history, music, locality, smoke — a place discovered by word of mouth. ★ I conceptualized their brand identity, created a new logo and menu and am currently in the process of designing their website!
Brand Identity
At first, I was collecting Americana era inspiration, but something felt missing. Of course, every brand is unique, so I had to go deeper into what the brand really means and feels like. Americana can feel very preppy or very edgy, depending on the symbols, colors, and textures used. Instead of looking just for modern solutions to someone else's problems, I focused on the brand its self and what kind of story I wanted it to tell.
Road Maps: Every item on the menu references a specific place, a burger or sandwich that originated in some place and time, each it's own unique thing. I wanted to give the website a feeling of exploration, like going on a road trip and discovering a hole in the wall on a road trip, your own little secret. I began to look at real vintage road maps for inspiration.
The Devil - The devil, in the fiery pits of hell, cooking your food with his pitchfork adds the rock & roll flare that Inferno represents. Of course, pitchforks are often referenced in bars + grills but I wanted to specifically reference the devil's pitchfork through the site to add that edgy, rock & roll flair.
Southern Gothic: relying on a bit of supernatural, the strange and sometimes downright creepy aspects of the south. I didn't want to go too hard on this aspect, but just a touch to give it some presence in the brand!
Something I have learned as a designer is that even the smallest, most local small brand has it's own personality! In fact, this is my favorite part of the design process when working with brands. The local culture, the larger history, the metaphors, feelings, symbols, textures, colors and meanings that come together in unique ways will make a brand stand out in the crowd and elevate it to something special. When it all comes together, it's an amazing feeling!
Website Design
I created the website using the branding I had created as the driving inspiration. However, I wanted to simplify the visual complexity of the website so people wouldn't get overwhelmed when using it.
Text Menus Online
One thing I learned in my search for inspiration is that far too many websites only have online text menus, often low quality & hard to read. Many opt for a photograph of the menu or use external websites or pdfs only for their menu.
One thing I learned in my search for inspiration is that far too many websites only have online text menus, often low quality & hard to read. Many opt for a photograph of the menu or use external websites or pdfs only for their menu.
This isn't great for a few reasons.
1. It immediately makes your restaurant inaccessible to anyone using speech to text readers. These are not edge cases, they are real people. It's always better to design with accessibility, diversity and flexibility in mind.
2. Mobile readers cannot read your image (small text, and not optimized for mobile) or need to download a pdf, which is frustrating to potential guests.
3. Yes, PDFs are mostly readable by google web crawlers but most are not SEO optimized so you're loosing out there! If you only have an image menu, you are immediately at a disadvantage on search engines.
In other words, designing a text based menu for your website is much better for your business and makes your site that much more accessible!
1. It immediately makes your restaurant inaccessible to anyone using speech to text readers. These are not edge cases, they are real people. It's always better to design with accessibility, diversity and flexibility in mind.
2. Mobile readers cannot read your image (small text, and not optimized for mobile) or need to download a pdf, which is frustrating to potential guests.
3. Yes, PDFs are mostly readable by google web crawlers but most are not SEO optimized so you're loosing out there! If you only have an image menu, you are immediately at a disadvantage on search engines.
In other words, designing a text based menu for your website is much better for your business and makes your site that much more accessible!
