Research

Sweet Basil Café is a family owned and operated restaurant in Rockford Illinois, known for its commitment to using only the finest and freshest ingredients in its dishes. They have an extensive menu that features a mix of American cuisine with Greek influences, as well as specialty coffees, shakes, and smoothies. They have carved out a niche in the competitive restaurant industry with their diverse offerings. They also provide live entertainment and hosts themed events like Superhero Thursdays​​​​​​​​.

This restaurant chain, includes their Rockford location, and three others in the Chicago suburbs. They have also opened in Peoria, Springfield and Champaign, Illinois. The chain has ventured out of Illinois in in December 2022​​​​​​, opening their first location in the Centennial State at the Southlands Shopping Center in Aurora Denver Colorado

About their target audience: The restaurant’s varied menu and family friendly atmosphere attract a diverse clientele, including families, casual diners, and those looking for a comfortable place with a variety of food options and engaging activities. The chain's expansion into different regions indicates a successful business model and a growing appeal to a broader audience.

Problem and Solution

The logo for this restaurant had several shortcomings. It did not match the atmosphere of the restaurant. In fact every time I drove by or mention the restaurant the image of the logo screamed for help. My goal was to give this restaurant a modern fresh and functional logo that could be recognizable and also be used in the various format that were required for this project. Taking from the old logo were the basil leaf and the fresh fruits concepts.  However rather than using a raster image of fruits, I have created a color and black and white vector version of fruits. I decided to place them in a bowl rather than just scatter them around. I wrapped things up neatly inside a basil vine. This serves as the symbol for the restaurant.

Fonts

For the font I chose Brandcake Regular. I felt this was a friendly, inviting typeface that is also modern and has flare. It also did well on the readability scale. Since I had a lot of creative freedom for this project, I added the word restaurant because café is misleading for the menu they serve. I chose a gradient with dark greens for the type color. I used a slightly lighter version of that green for the basil gradient. I decided to continue the gradient into the symbol using repetition for one of my design principals here. Overall, I think the logo can speak to older and younger generations. It is clean and sophisticated and can be a recognizable asset that can live up to their reputation.