First Steps: let’s talk background & how we got started

neighborhood famous tacos & tamales takeover

My client, Adrian, and his mom had been the neighborhood’s favorite Latin cuisine on the street for years. They started informally catering family birthday parties and neighborhood events and soon became a full-time catering business serving local town events and weddings. It was time to give this growing business a name, location and some branding!

Next Steps

Once they were serving large events, Adrian felt it was time to brand his work and use his creativity to start a food truck with a fun and tasty menu. He reached out to me for a complete branding experience: a fun logo, some cool icons and eventually, the food truck wrap, menu and merch! We started with the name, logo and a few icons.

Research & Discovery: Understanding the business

I had an initial meeting with Adrian to see and understand his vision for this new food truck business. We talked about the type of food he would sell, the unique flavors he would work with and the atmosphere he wanted to create for G&Gs Street Grill Food Truck. He’s a creative person himself, so he had a lot of cool ideas about what his menu would include and how he wanted to present that to his audience. Here are some key points from that meeting that would guide the inspiration for my designs:

type of food

  • Mexican & Latin Street Food

  • Tacos, Tamales & Quesadillas

  • Unique Salsas

most important to your rep

  • Distinctive Flavor Combos

  • Best in Town

  • Authentic Menu Items

food truck vibes

  • Creative & Fun Atmosphere

  • Loud Presence

  • Colorful & Friendly Energy

DESIGN PROCESS: ALL THE ITERATIONS

let’s find a distinctive font

I started off by looking online for Mexican and Latin color palettes, icons, patterns, fonts and more. Adrian had two names in mind for the company at the start of our design exploration. I made logos using both names to help him visualize the branding so he could pick the name that sounded best to him.

 

First round designs

Adrian loved the font, simplicity and styling of these logos. Initially, he just wanted text, but after seeing a little design here, he decided he wanted to add some design elements to the logo. He specifically wanted to see a colorful sombrero and some chili peppers in the next round. He chose a font and name from this round! G&Gs Street Grill was underway.

 

second round designs

From this round, Adrian loved the vibrant colors, the sombrero and the font. He requested we add a sugar skull and limes. I started thinking he was visualizing the design elements we would use on the food truck and menu design. So, we discussed where we were in the design process and agreed to go with a text-only logo, but to hold onto the chili peppers and sombrero for another part of the branding down the line.

 

Final round designs

Adrian wanted a more masculine color palette and little to no design elements within this round. The background colors on these logos were just to show what the logo could look like on a food truck. I included a draft design variation for the food truck which got the client pumped and helped bring my designs to life.

FINAL DESIGN: WE HAVE A BRAND!

all the hard work was worth it

We explored a few different design styles and options throughout this project, but ultimately landed on a simple and clean logo which gives us the freedom to play with some cool design icons for other parts of the branding. Adrian is loving his new logo and is excited to work together for the food truck, menu and merch designs.

At the start of this project, the company didn’t even have a name! It’s pretty cool to see how far we’ve come and think about all the branding we will have the chance to work with.