Two experienced restaurateurs who had spent years running casual dining rooms, and who knew the market well enough to see what nobody had taken. Latin American food at the upscale end. Date nights, celebrations, business dinners, not a quick weeknight meal. They had a name, an opening date six months out, and nothing else.
CLIENT
CLIENT
El Santo
El Santo
INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
Hospitality, Restaurant
Hospitality, Restaurant
ROLE
ROLE
Solo Brand Designer
Solo Brand Designer
TOOLS
TOOLS
TOOLS
Affinity Designer, Figma
Affinity Designer, Figma
YEAR
YEAR
YEAR
2022
2022
THE PROBLEM
THE PROBLEM
A NAME AND A DATE
A NAME AND A DATE
A NAME AND A DATE
NOTHING ELSE
NOTHING ELSE
NOTHING ELSE
Twenty five to forty pounds a head in a category where the going rate was fifteen, on a street where the cheaper alternative is two doors down.
Twenty five to forty pounds a head in a category where the going rate was fifteen, on a street where the cheaper alternative is two doors down.
No identity, no market position, no reservations. The name had been chosen before anything else existed, and the pricing was settled long before anyone had tasted a dish.
That is the difficult part. The brand had to make the case for the price on its own and in advance, with no food to help it and nobody in the room to talk anyone through it.
No identity, no market position, no reservations. The name had been chosen before anything else existed, and the pricing was settled long before anyone had tasted a dish.
That is the difficult part. The brand had to make the case for the price on its own and in advance, with no food to help it and nobody in the room to talk anyone through it.
WHAT I FOUND
WHAT I FOUND
Two visual languages. Two different price brackets.
Two visual languages. Two different price brackets.
Eight Latin American venues and ten upscale non Latin ones. Every Latin American venue used bright primaries, literal cultural symbols and playful typography. Every upscale venue used dark palettes, minimal type and photography built around craft.
The owners were clear they were not competing with Chiquito or Topolabamba. Their customer is thirty to fifty, choosing a restaurant for an occasion rather than for convenience. One line from the workshops became the brief: we want people to feel like they are somewhere special, not somewhere themed.
Eight Latin American venues and ten upscale non Latin ones. Every Latin American venue used bright primaries, literal cultural symbols and playful typography. Every upscale venue used dark palettes, minimal type and photography built around craft.
The owners were clear they were not competing with Chiquito or Topolabamba. Their customer is thirty to fifty, choosing a restaurant for an occasion rather than for convenience. One line from the workshops became the brief: we want people to feel like they are somewhere special, not somewhere themed.
THE DECISION
THE DECISION
Three directions. The obvious one was wrong.
Three directions. The obvious one was wrong.
The first took the name literally. An illustrated saint with a halo, set with typography. It had atmosphere, and the owners were right to be nervous. Too devotional, and alienating to anyone who read it as religious rather than as reverent.
The second went the other way. Refined custom lettering, no symbol at all. Clean, and it could have been any Spanish restaurant in any city. The third found the balance: hand drawn letterforms, a crown, and geometry taken from the Aztec sun stone.
The first took the name literally. An illustrated saint with a halo, set with typography. It had atmosphere, and the owners were right to be nervous. Too devotional, and alienating to anyone who read it as religious rather than as reverent.
The second went the other way. Refined custom lettering, no symbol at all. Clean, and it could have been any Spanish restaurant in any city. The third found the balance: hand drawn letterforms, a crown, and geometry taken from the Aztec sun stone.
The saint direction was the one I liked most and it was the one that had to go. A mark that works in a presentation and a mark that works above a door for ten years are not always the same object.
THE EXECUTiON
THE EXECUTiON
DEEP GREEN
DEEP GREEN
DEEP GREEN
NOT BURGUNDY
NOT BURGUNDY
NOT BURGUNDY
Warm black and antique gold alongside it, in a category where burgundy is the default move.
Warm black and antique gold alongside it, in a category where burgundy is the default move.
Half the fine dining rooms in the city were already on burgundy. Green with gold reads as an old wine room, puts El Santo in that bracket, and does not land on the same shade as anyone already standing in it.
The letterforms were drawn by hand rather than adapted from a typeface. They connect in places, so the wordmark reads as a signature or a seal. At this price point a restaurant has to feel made for its own address, and a font cannot do that.
Half the fine dining rooms in the city were already on burgundy. Green with gold reads as an old wine room, puts El Santo in that bracket, and does not land on the same shade as anyone already standing in it.
The letterforms were drawn by hand rather than adapted from a typeface. They connect in places, so the wordmark reads as a signature or a seal. At this price point a restaurant has to feel made for its own address, and a font cannot do that.
Every decision came down to how far to commit to the upscale position, and the answer every single time was further than felt comfortable. Halfway would have read as a casual place with pretensions, which is worse than either end.
THE BRAND ACTIVATION
THE BRAND ACTIVATION
Subway platforms, the West End, the city centre. The name on every sheet.
Subway platforms, the West End, the city centre. The name on every sheet.
The campaign ran across Glasgow Subway platforms and poster sites through the West End and the city centre. Each sheet is a flat field of colour, yellow, purple, orange, green or black, with the food shot straight down and cropped tight. A thin keyline frame holds all of them, the seal or the wordmark sits at the top, and the web address sits at the foot of every single one.
The billboard carried the opening itself. NOW OPEN set heavy, a green chilli laid through the type so it cuts the counter of the O, the date and the street address underneath. The same system then ran through menus, entrance signage, business cards, coasters and cocktail napkins.
The campaign ran across Glasgow Subway platforms and poster sites through the West End and the city centre. Each sheet is a flat field of colour, yellow, purple, orange, green or black, with the food shot straight down and cropped tight. A thin keyline frame holds all of them, the seal or the wordmark sits at the top, and the web address sits at the foot of every single one.
The billboard carried the opening itself. NOW OPEN set heavy, a green chilli laid through the type so it cuts the counter of the O, the date and the street address underneath. The same system then ran through menus, entrance signage, business cards, coasters and cocktail napkins.
THE OUTCOME
THE OUTCOME
Three hundred and forty reservations. Before the doors opened.
Three hundred and forty reservations. Before the doors opened.
Fully booked for the first two weeks, from a name nobody had heard of six weeks earlier. That is what a pre launch campaign is meant to do and very rarely does.
The spend figure is the one that proves the positioning held. Thirty four pounds a head against fifteen to twenty at the casual competitors, which means people were not arriving expecting a cheap night out and being surprised by the bill.
Fully booked for the first two weeks, from a name nobody had heard of six weeks earlier. That is what a pre launch campaign is meant to do and very rarely does.
The spend figure is the one that proves the positioning held. Thirty four pounds a head against fifteen to twenty at the casual competitors, which means people were not arriving expecting a cheap night out and being surprised by the bill.
340
340
Reservations booked before opening day
Reservations booked before opening day
1700
1700
Instagram followers, from zero in six weeks
Instagram followers, from zero in six weeks
£34
£34
Average spend per head, against £15 to £20 for casual competitors
Average spend per head, against £15 to £20 for casual competitors
2 weeks
2 weeks
Fully booked from opening day
Fully booked from opening day
An opening is its own event. Curiosity, press and word of mouth all move numbers in a first fortnight, so the reservation figure describes a launch rather than a settled trading pattern. The spend per head is the more durable of the two.
An opening is its own event. Curiosity, press and word of mouth all move numbers in a first fortnight, so the reservation figure describes a launch rather than a settled trading pattern. The spend per head is the more durable of the two.
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Marko
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