Restaurant Group Branding
One restaurant, two shifts. The identity flips Cream-on-Fig by day to Fig-on-Cream at night — same mark, same grid, no sub-brand.
Self-initiated. Built to demonstrate an approach — no client, no brief, no results to report.
The problem
A restaurant that serves lunch and dinner is effectively two businesses with one lease. The usual answer is a sub-brand, which doubles the print bill and halves the recognition.
What I did
- Inverted the palette instead of adding a second identity: Cream on Fig by day, Fig on Cream after dark, same mark and same grid.
- Reserved the accent for the kitchen’s choices — specials and seasonal notes only, never a fixed menu item — so it means something on the page.
- Held menu body copy at a 16px print equivalent in both versions, because a night menu that cannot be read in low light is the failure this system exists to avoid.
Where it landed
A concept with no client and no trading results. The idea worth taking is the inversion: one system doing two jobs is cheaper to print, cheaper to maintain, and stronger than two related ones.
The interface, running
This is the real thing, not a screenshot. Every control on it works.
Logo system
Palette
Click a swatch to copy its hexTypographic scale
Applications
Day menu
Cream ground, Fig ink, single column — reads like a lunch note, not a rate card.
Night menu
Same layout inverted to Fig ground with Saffron rules for the tasting sequence.
Packaging
Kraft bag, one-colour Saffron stamp, no laminate.
Signage
Wordmark reversed out of Fig by day, lit from within after dusk — one mark, two shifts.
Rules the brand runs on
- 01
One mark, two shifts
The identity flips Cream-on-Fig to Fig-on-Cream at sunset instead of switching to a sub-brand.
- 02
Saffron marks the kitchen’s choice
The accent only ever touches specials and seasonal notes — never a fixed menu item.
- 03
Legible at arm’s length
Menu body copy never drops below 16px equivalent in print, day or night version.