Brooke Sockwell | Graphic Design
Project Statement
Tavola is a fictitious Italian bistro that serves and offers cooking classes in Italian cuisine. Situated in downtown Austin, Texas, the company’s mission is to create an authentic, communal Italian cooking experience by teaching timeless traditions and recipes. Tavola provides locals with exciting and unique events where they can enjoy savory dishes and learn new cooking skills.
The word “tavola” means table in Italian and represents the company’s vision where everyone has room to take a seat. Tavola’s cooking classes offer a variety of recipes that welcome all skill levels. Instructors are engaging and eager to teach because they want participants to find just as much joy in the process as they do in the food.
The design goal for Tavola was to create a branding system that communicates the traditional and vibrant qualities found in their Italian cooking classes. My approach was to combine traditional ingredients and equipment that are vital to Italian cuisine with the communal emphasis of the culture. The logo is a cutout on flat color that combines elements of a charcuterie board with the company’s name. I chose to make it a cutout to mimic the action of pasta cutting as well as highlight the geometric shapes formed by food on a charcuterie board. Also, it is said that people tend to eat with their eyes first so the brand consists of a variety of food visuals and iconology. In order to keep the branding system cohesive, I followed the same style and characteristics of its logo. All of the icons are simple and made up of flat color, and many have the same cutout effect. As the national colors of Italy, red, green, and white are the primary color palette for the system. The rich color values represent the savory Italian dishes as well as the deep cultural roots. I utilized Avenir for the system’s typography to create a minimalist and professional look. This sans serif typeface is clean, geometric, and timeless. Tavola’s branding system is designed to represent authenticity and passion so participants feel invited to be a part of the immersive experience of Italian cooking.