Chroma
Culinary Concept | Expand your Palate
Expand your Palate
Blending culinary art with visual art
Welcome to Chroma! Chroma is a fine dining concept based in NYC focused on both curated cooking and crafting memorable experiences. Each dish is paired with a preset color-key or palette that helps describe the flavor profiles of the meal. For example, salmon with a sweet-and-spicy glaze might have a palette of warm orange, deep magenta, and a low-saturated pink. This is, of course, to reflect the spice level, the tangy-sweet glaze, and perfectly cooked salmon. Through emphasizing these two senses, sight and taste, Chroma seeks to draw attention to the power of this “visual-taste.” Further, it seeks to give appreciation towards the many beautiful and tasty ingredients that help make the foods we love.
Branding
Logos, Color Swatches, & Icons
Logos
In the early stages, I was set on calling the brand “Kaleidoscope” — with more of a focus on creating kaleidoscope patterns to map flavor profiles via color. With this initial idea, I became attached to a logo design with a contrasting first letter. Specifically, an emphasized serif glyph combined with the rest of a sans-serif word. While cool, I didn’t feel confident about the name and ended up moving on. This format stayed behind though, creating the main logo for the Chroma concept. The logo, being simple in nature, reflects a mixture of elements much like the restaurant.
Color Swatches & Gradients
For the main color swatches, I wanted to focus on saturated and bright tones to reflect the power of flavor. Flavor profiles like salty, sweet, bitter, etc. are all known for their punch, they usually make themselves known. The swatches are very whimsical or playful, reminding me of used coloring books and filling in lines with old Crayons. Overall, they’re meant to be eye-catching and exciting. I settled on 6 main swatches. To emphasize these colors further, I paired them with matching, funky gradients. In lieu of patterns, I decided on using gradients instead for their ability to use (and mix) a wide range of colors. They’re quick solutions for displaying how these swatches interact and flow. Something about the nature of a freeform gradient can really mimic how food flavors mix to become a unique new flavor. I wanted to show the brand’s color swatches interacting and, again, place an emphasis on color.
Icons
Initially, I wasn’t planning on creating icons to use as I was having a hard time visualizing what both taste and sight “look” like together. After some time and brainstorming, I figured icons (used sparingly) would be a fun edition to the concept. The three flat, 2-D icons, represented by an eyeball in a mouth, an eyeball on a fork, and two eyeballs on toothpicks, are fun spins on the phrase “eye candy.” Of which, I feel represents the idea in a tongue-and-cheek way.
Overview
Chroma’s branding was born from a desire to emphasize color in a trendy way while providing a new take on fine dining. Through flat, saturated designs and geometric compositions, Chroma is a playful twist on traditional restaurant branding. The look is eye-catching and, thus, approachable — which was my main intention, I’m happy to see how far it has come from initial designs to the finals.
Menu & Website
Design decisions and finals
Menu
I always knew I wanted to approach the menu with a funky design — Initially, I was planning on creating tabs for the pages on the side to allow effortless movement throughout the whole “book.” This idea also ended up being scrapped in exchange for the tabs being the bottom of each page. These pages are layered pieces, all being about an inch shorter than the one after it. This space allows for a small header, summarizing the content of each page for easier accessibility. For the design, I kept the flat, geometric composition, aiming for harmony among all of the branding elements. I struggled with finding a way to neatly display each color-scheme and their respective dishes while maintaining legibility and spacing. In the end, I used a series of grids to help figure out those margins.
Website
After creating the menu, I knew I wanted the website to mirror what I had done with the grids in the menu. So, I brainstormed ways to incorporate new images while keeping that flat, geometric, and vivid design. In some areas, they follow a grid composition, in other areas, they are arranged in a cut-and-paste style. This mixture allowed me to keep the design fun and open, providing information while playing with the presentation.
Visit the website mockup using the provided link, or use the preview window below!
Collateral & Packaging
Elements for general restaurant needs
Collateral
Using what I had already created, I mainly continued to use my set swatches/gradients as well as the logos to help make some of the materials that would be necessary for a functioning establishment. Above, I made several mockups of things like coasters, cutlery packets, and to-go bags. This pairs well with the approach to packaging and merchandise, which uses the assets in a similar manner. For some mockups, like the plates below, I experimented with how I used the gradients made back in the early stages of branding. I thought it would be interesting to distort them, having them in a radial path emphasizing the Chroma logo in the center of the plate. I’m still on the fence on whether these should be classified as collateral or merchandise, but I think it would be cool to have them available as both a restaurant feature and purchasable gift.
Packaging
For packaging, I had this really fun idea to make stickers to capture the summary of the dish and its matching palette. For guests that had a fun experience at Chroma, and happen to have leftovers, their to-go box will be adorned with a specific sticker describing the palette as well as the date they visited. The label could inspire guests to return and try something new while maintaining the quality of the food.
Merchandise
Tote bags, t-shirts, & stickers galore!
While the concept is super unique and might seem easy to think about merchandise, I really had a hard time thinking about what I wanted for the brand. At first, I gathered simple designs for t-shirts including logos — from here, I expanded the list to include tote bags, stickers, tape, and (my personal favorite) oven mitts! With a brand that was so focused on the culinary arts, I thought it was only natural to make oven mitts for guests feeling inspired to create their own Chroma meals. At the end of the day, Chroma was built inspire curiosity about how visual appeal not only adds to a good dish but influences the taste. The difference between a strong vibrant colored fruit and a warm, toasted chicken breast — these all matter in how we percieve how they taste. The mitts were so exciting to make and would make a fun addition to any kitchen, professional or not.
Environmental & Advertising
I planned for Chroma to be based in NYC as the city is a worldwide hub for experimental and well-known fine dining. Not only this, the city is filled with cool storefronts and new ways to approach exterior design. I wanted something sleek, something somewhat plain to emphasize the color elements in the window. Further, the front entrance will be adorned with a familiar color grid of squares, including two mirrored squares for a fun accent. The interior of the restaurant would be natural, with a light, warm wood making up the seating and flooring. While I planned for the brand to be playful and approachable, I still wanted to maintain that level of “fine-dining.” Where certain elements might be whimsical, the interior of the storefront will still have a degree of professionalism and high quality.
Advertising
Because I established Chroma in NYC, it only made sense that the advertising would be street or transportation focused. I designed an eye-catching banner that invites passersby to participate in a little Chroma-themed challenge, giving more time for them to be interested in visiting. Presenting three color swatches, the banner challenges the viewer to guess the ingredient. Considering the restaurant is all about how color could evoke different flavor profiles, I felt it was an interesting addition as an ad.
Below are additional ads, including two mini subway banners and two full length posters.
Conclusion
Chroma was my first attempt at building a tangible restaurant brand — There were times where I was unsure of the concept, the design, everything. However, after fleshing out all areas of the restaurant, it became easier and easier to see Chroma as a real-life concept. This idea came from a desire to see the limits of fine dining pushed, to see two things I love come together in a new way.
Credits
Designer: Hunter Ruiz (https://tuq35118.myportfolio.com/)
Instructor: Mia Culbertson, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University
Stock Photography for mockups provided by Adobe Stock (Adobe Stock Link)
