Design Process- Heirloom cafe

Research

About

Heirloom cafe is located in the Mission District of San Francisco. It is a homey dimly lit restaurant offering farm to table seasonal ingredient entrees. It is a corner cafe in an older building with a designed diner bar for patrons. “When guests arrive at the restaurant, we feel as though we’re welcoming them into our own dining room. Our favorite music to play during dinner depends on the time of night, but is usually old jazz, played by Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, or Dave Brubeck.” 

Current brand applications

Heirloom Café logo in red text on a white background
A website homepage for Heirloom Café, featuring a vintage-style illustration of two beets and information about the restaurant, including location, hours, reservations, and menu details.

The current branding and logo application is minimal. They use more neutral colors and vegetable illustrations. It doesn’t necessarily match the over all feel of the restaurant.

Customer reviews

Screenshot of a Facebook review for a restaurant, showing five stars, posted a month ago, mentioning love for France and a suggestion to brighten the room.
Screenshot of a Google review, a five-star rating, praising a restaurant in San Francisco for its delicious food, wine list, cozy atmosphere, and high-quality service.
A screenshot of a restaurant review with a 5-star rating, praising the farm-to-table dinner, and a comment about the perfect date night ambiance.

Interior/food photos

A long wooden dining table set for a meal with white napkins, silverware, and glasses, including water glasses and wine glasses, in a warmly lit restaurant with large windows and curtains; a centerpiece with flowers and a glass water pitcher.
Plate of pasta with green herbs, ground meat, topped with grated cheese, served on a white plate.
A plate of grilled fish with a side of mixed vegetables and grains, garnished with herbs, in front of two glasses of white wine.
Interior of a cozy cafe or restaurant with wooden chairs, a door with woven wreath decorations, and glass bottles on a shelf above the door.

I was given the assignment to redesign Heirloom Cafe’s logo mark and logo. After doing research on its current branding I focused on making a list of words and icons that show the charcters of Heirloom Cafe.

Ideation

A sketchbook page with various doodles including a dog, sun, group of people, table with cups, a house with windows, a stack of coins, a string of lights, a person sitting at a table, and a bottle. There are also some words like 'hairdom cafe' and 'heirloom' written on the page.
Handwritten notes on a spiral notebook page with words grouped into categories, including 'cafe', 'family', 'jazz', 'community', and 'intimate'.
Hand-drawn map of a cafe and surroundings, showing areas labeled 'The Room' and 'Café.' Includes sketches of tables, chairs, and utensils like forks and knives, with some labeled 'Herloon' and 'Café est 2010.'
Handwritten notes with illustrations and German words about heritage, cakes, and cutlery, including sketches of knives, forks, and spoons.
Hand-drawn sketches and notes of a cafe and heirloom plants, including a coffee cup, plant illustrations, and text labels.
Hand-drawn sketches of various signs and logos for a cafe named 'Heirloom Cafe,' including illustrations of lighting fixtures, a brick wall, and decorative elements like string lights and vegetables.

Once I had an idea of the terms and visual logo icons that express Heirloom Cafe I iterated on them to re-design their logo mark keeping in mind their history and simplicity.

Various black and white logos and icons for a business called Heirloom Cafe, including script and block text, a coffee cup, utensils, and decorative elements on a black background.

Logo Iterations

Collection of various black and white logo designs and text styles for 'Heirloom Cafe', featuring different fonts, graphics, and arrangements.
Design featuring the words 'Heirloom Cafe' in a bold font and 'heirloom' in cursive, decorated with illustrations of cherry clusters and arrows.

Brand Applications

Graphical text design with the words 'Heirloom' intertwined with illustrations of root vegetables, a black beet and a green turnip.
Collection of business cards for Heirloom Cafe, featuring a green and yellow color scheme, minimalist beetroot illustration, and contact details including address, Instagram handle, and operating hours.
A box of matches with a green and yellow design, featuring a logo and contact information, displayed against a light green background.
A green paper shopping bag with a light green oval logo displaying the word 'Hairloom' and black stylized hairbrushes, set against a white background with soft shadows.
A person holding a menu at a restaurant called 'Heirloom.' The menu has a yellow-green cover with a logo featuring a beetroot. The menu lists various dishes with ingredients and wine pairings, including cabbage, fennel, apples, walnuts, and wine options. The person has fingernails painted red and is sitting at a textured, white, round table with a glass of water, a black container with utensils and napkins, and part of a glass of water visible.