Nate's Detroit Pizza
Nate's pizza business grew from Nate making Detroit-style pizzas in his own kitchen, delivering them to his Park Slope neighbors and businesses in Brooklyn. With a family background in restaurant ownership, he pushed all his chips in on his food and started a ghost kitchen, making pizzas and selling slices at local bars with eyes set on his own spots.
He came to me with ideas that were tied more to familiar themes of the city of Detroit, but he was open to suggestions. I wanted to take it in a direction that spoke more to Nate, his background, and his pizza.
Initial ideas
Elements I wanted to represent:
Small but spirited
Blue-collar
City not suburb
Detroit-style pizza (Nate talked a lot about the three stripes of sauce that goes on top)
Combination mark
After a few iterations, we landed on this. A lot of shirts and hats worn in the stores use the white and red on black logo. This builds on the intent of small and spirited to be more bold and gritty.
Secondary mark
I like it when branding can be modular, so a smaller mark can be pulled out and used in specific applications or in support of the main mark.
Menu
I kept the menus simple and switched to black and red on white for obvious printing advantages. They use the same font family and maintain the overall vibe Nate is trying to create in his growing locations. I love it when he calls and says, "We need to add a new location."
Custom hat mockups
They created hats and t-shirts for everyone working there, featuring the main mark on black hats and shirts. I wanted to suggest the option of using that secondary mark on a baseball-style white panel hat. Custom hats are pricey and I don't blame Nate for not going with these.
In the wild
Check out Nate's Detroit Pizza on Instagram, or the next time you're in Brooklyn and New York.
https://www.instagram.com/nates_detroit_pizza/
MORE BRANDING WORK