Shirl & Nev’s

Come in and stay a while

Description:

“Shirl & Nev’s” is a restaurant honoring the life of my grandparents. Inspired by my grandmother, Shirley, who loves cooking for our family and passing down her treasured recipes, I aimed to infuse a warm and rustic homestyle ambiance into the establishment. My goal is to evoke a sense of nostalgia for the customers by featuring her heartwarming Pennsylvania Dutch-style cuisine and showcasing some of the cherished family dishes. One thing about my grandparents is there will never be a dull moment, so I wanted to include content that was both humorous and inviting. Additionally, in line with my Grandma’s appreciation for fresh ingredients, “Shirl & Nev’s” collaborates with local farmers to incorporate seasonal, farm-fresh components into our dishes.

Style Tile:

Logo & Type:

As I began creating my logo, I knew I wanted it to have a meaningful tie to my Gram and Pap. I immediately thought back to when I was younger when my pap used to draw these funny chicken doodles and would leave them in places around for us to discover. He would find so much amusement in this, so I thought bringing the chickens into a logo similar to the way he drew them would be a good idea. I wanted to incorporate two chickens to represent my gram and pap and the love they have for each other. Extending this theme to the typography, I aimed for a handmade quality so the type would flow well with the logo. Below are a few itterations and type pairings that I explored for the logo and the menu. All of the elements of my logo, except for the type are hand drawn.

Menu:

Since my Gram loves her recipes I had the idea to make the menu have some qualities of a cookbook. I incorporated tabs similar to what you would see in a recipe book to differentiate between Brunch, Dinner, Cocktails, and Desserts. To add a personal touch, I incorporated images of both my Gram and Pap on select pages, featuring some of her handwritten recipes for sentimental value. I also brought in some hand-drawn spot illustrations to align with the logo design and to make the menu more aesthetically pleasing.

As for the menu items, there was a lot to choose from. I wanted to base the dishes off of my Gram’s upbringing in rural Pennsylvania where she grew up. Drawing inspiration from Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, I curated a selection of family favorites that my Gram used to prepare for us that were both comforting and delicious.

Packaging:

This part of the project was very fun for me because I was able to create more hand drawn illustrations and include some things that both my gram and pap love. My gram’s homemade jelly is an essential in our homes and it's something she loves to make for us. I included both strawberry and blackberry jelly because those are the two favorite flavors in our family. Additionally, recognizing my Pap’s routine of starting his morning with a fresh cup of coffee, I made sure to feature bags of coffee they would be “sold” as well. Lastly, since “Shirl & Nev’s” gets their ingredients from local farms, I included fresh eggs that would be featured in the establishment too.

Environmental:

Environmental was the most essential part in this project because capturing the rustic, homey feel is essential to tying everything together. Exterior elements of the restaurant feature flowers, something my gram always had around, and the specials that would be served. To mirror the interior ambiance, I incorporated rustic shelving with samples of the packaging that would be available for “purchase”. I also gave a glimpse of that the inside seating would look like to further the idea.

Collateral:

It was important for the collateral to align with the design of the whole restaurant. With this in mind, I created designs for oven mitts, an essential for cooking, and incorporating the pattern onto some dish towels. I also wanted to design some coffee cups to represent my pap’s love for his coffee every morning and tote bags.

Website:

For the website, I wanted it to directly align with the menu so I included a lot of the same elements. I included the “about” page with a few pictures of my gram and pap to keep the sentimental feeling and replicated the same logo, type, pattern, and colors.

Conclusion:

Overall, working on this project was both enjoyable and challenging. Watching the elements of my design come together and learning what it's like to create a brand was very rewarding. Through lots of drawing, and the support of my instructor I am very proud of the way this turned out. This assignment has equipped me with skills I will be able to apply to future projects and make me a better student and designer.

Credits:

Designer: Hanna Caruso
Instructor: Katey Stafford,
Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University.
Mockups sourced from Adobe Stock.