Brand Development for Il Rustico
We had the pleasure of helping another young entrepreneur couple in Costa Rica with their restaurant branding recently. They make amazing, authentic Italian food and have opened an adorable, comfortable restaurant featuring homemade pastas and pizzas that taste just like nonna’s cooking!
After sitting down with them (over a pizza and glass of vino, of course) to discuss their brand direction, they decided to call the restaurant “Il Rustico”, which is Italian for rustic. First we were going with “El Rustico”, in Spanish, since they are in Costa Rica. It’s such a blend of cultures in the town they are located in, but it became confusing to have an Italian restaurant with a Spanish name, and all their marketing material in English! So “Il Rustico” is was. They wanted a rustic, homey feel, and loved the idea of having a traditional nonna (Italian for grandma) with a rolling pin as part of their logo and brand identity. Here are some inspiration photos so you have an idea of their style and quality.
We started sketching ideas and came up with a few logo ideas. We always deliver at least 3 totally different concepts, but often we have 3-5 ideas to show clients plus variations. Below you can see some of the original concepts we developed for them, followed by four more refined logos after hearing feedback about initial designs. At this point, all concepts are close to finalized, and the client chooses which one they like best to finalize and make last changes to.
They liked casual script fonts, and of course, the logo with nonna was the favorite. So we went with #1 and made some small changes to the layout and tagline. The final logo represents them and their inspiration, with a blend of traditional and modern style. We finished defining the brand, and developing some marketing material like the fun, memorable business cards you’ll see below.
Hope you enjoyed reading about our design process! If you are a small business owner who needs some help developing your brand and designing a logo, get in touch and tell us about your project! And of course, if you are in the Playa Avellanas area (just 10 minutes south of Playa Tamarindo) you must stop by this hidden gem for some Italian food made with love. Visit their Facebook page for more details.