I once heard a rumor that Artisan Pizza Kitchen – previously known as Artichoke Basil – changed its name because it hijacked its brand and menu from a store in New York, and that store threatened to sue. I found some evidence to substantiate this claim here, but Artisan also mentioned on Facebook in 2011 that it rebranded due to a trademark issue with another restaurant.

LOGO 2011 – 2015

Artisan’s logo looked somewhat similar to its old one in the immediate years following the name change. Overlooking the Comic Sans typeface (because we should all already know that’s a no-no), other issues with the old logo present themselves.

The font size of “Artisan” appears to be larger than that of “Pizza” and “Kitchen.” The tight spacing around the curved text clashes with the ample amount of space within the circle. The text “Chapel Hill, NC” is unreadable against the dark red background, and “Since 2008” is much too small to read. The basil plant graphic doesn’t relate to the restaurant’s new name and looks out of place.

Fortunately, the faults of the old logo are now irrelevant, as Artisan has rebranded again. The shop came under new ownership in the summer of 2015, and with new owners came another new logo.

LOGO 2015 –

Artisan’s new logo embodies minimalism and sophistication. Its black and light cream color scheme is simple and clean, the serif font choice promotes professionalism, and the thin white double border adds a subtle touch of style.

A few quirks in the design prevent the logo from being too simple. The unique hexagonal shape gives an otherwise simple design more personality. The serifs or feet of the “p” and “k” align with the angles of the the hexagon. The foot of the “a” also appears to extend further than one would expect.

One flaw that caught my eye is the discrepancy in spacing. Between the top of the “k” and the border is very tight, but spacing is roomier between the bottom of the “p” and the smaller lettering that spells out the pizzeria’s full name. This inconsistency is subtle, but the devil is in the details.

Overall, Artisan’s new logo is professional and fresh. I don’t refer to the restaurant as “APK,” but perhaps the acronym will catch on in good time.

BUILDING SIGNAGE

Outside the building, Artisan updated its windows to reflect the logo change. On either side of the entrance appear two white prints of the logo, which promote recognition of the pizzeria’s latest rebranding. The awning remains the same, connecting the past with present.

WEB DESIGN

Artisan’s website showcases the restaurant’s logo upgrade by displaying the graphic prominently in the top left. The logo’s black background contrasts with the red background of the site’s header and footer. The combination of a slab serif (think typewriter) and a brush script follows a basic rule for pairing fonts by creating contrast. However, the slab serif feels a bit oversized in some areas on the site and may clash somewhat with the chic style of the serif used in the logo.

The website is cognizant of varying browser sizes and makes subtle but important changes to increase readability at narrower widths. For example, on wider screens, visitors will see a faded pattern of illustrations of pizza slices, cheese blocks and toppings, as pictured below.

The pattern effectively embellishes an otherwise bland white background. But if a visitor is viewing on a smaller screen, the pattern could become distracting. Thus, the pattern disappears, presumably to increase readability and promote faster load times.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook – 519 likes
Twitter – 42 followers
Instagram – 57 followers

Since the ownership change, Artisan has upped its activity on Facebook and Instagram, but its Twitter account appears to remain dormant. As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, Facebook and Instagram appear to be most advantageous for reaching students in Chapel Hill, so I’m neither surprised by nor worried about inactivity on Twitter.

Posting consistently to social media is a great start for Artisan. To continue building a following, it should begin engaging its followers more directly, perhaps through a social media contest or other method of stimulating interaction.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Artisan’s latest rebranding efforts have resulted in a modern and professional visual identity that catches the eye of passersby on Franklin Street. Its activity on social media has spiked since new owners took the reigns, but it has not accumulated a large amount of followers. With time and more engagement on social media, I suspect students will take note of Artisan’s new brand and perhaps even begin calling the pizzeria “APK.” Will you?

If you’ve never been to Sutton’s Drug Store, you’re missing out on one of the greatest traditions in Chapel Hill. Photos of customers cover the walls, and Carolina basketball jerseys hang from above – you become immersed in a sea of Carolina blue the moment you walk in.

It’s gaaaame day! And we’re open til 9, so you have plenty of time to come see us ☺🐏💙 #GoHeels #BeatSDSU #StripeOut pic.twitter.com/FQ34iueO3s

— Sutton’s Drug Store (@Suttons_Drug) September 6, 2014

I formed my first impression of Sutton’s on its 90th anniversary, a fateful day in 2013 when Sutton’s offered hot dogs at its original 1923 price. Sutton’s closed its drug store a year and a half ago due to corporate competition, but its restaurant is the more widely known facet of the business and continues to thrive.

Although the drug store is gone, the restaurant’s official name remains Sutton’s Drug Store. For an incoming student or visitor, the name might appear misleading or ill-fitting, but Sutton’s is grounded in history. Changing the name might erase some of its historical prominence, and I tend to refer to the restaurant simply as “Sutton’s” anyway.

LOGO

An oval filled with an orange gradient sits in the back of the Sutton’s logo, creating a vintage diner feel. A similar characteristic is found in the Al’s logo, which possesses a somewhat similar restaurant style. The next layer of the logo is what appears to be a milkshake, a favorite item sold at Sutton’s that has earned top ratings. If a milkshake is what the graphic is portraying (if you can confirm that, comment below!), I would say it is stretched too horizontally. Moreover, the utensil sticking out isn’t clearly distinguishable – is it a spoon or a straw?

The typography is what shines in this logo – horizontal lines fill the letters, which certainly fits with an older style and dovetails with the stroked lines that border the oval and the milkshake graphic.

BUILDING SIGNAGE

Outside the store hangs a building sign that faces pedestrians directly as they walk by. The shape of the sign and its black border further emphasize the classic style. Sutton’s also features all-caps classic serif letters, though their beige color sometimes becomes hard to read against the white background, especially in this subpar photo that I snapped.

Sutton’s used to feature a striped white and red awning that stood out, and without it, the roofing feels a little empty. I’m unsure of when or why the awning was removed, so leave a comment if you have an explanation.

WEB DESIGN

The history of Sutton’s is what sets it apart from competitors, so I was disappointed to see that Sutton’s didn’t include it on its website, even though it leads website visitors into thinking there’s a story waiting for them. The following is listed on the homepage of Sutton’s.

But clicking the link leads to a sad, blank page.

Skeleton pages appear to be rampant on the Sutton’s site. Since Sutton’s is filled with photos in store, I expected a vast gallery on its site. The gallery page leads to its Facebook gallery, which felt like a cop-out to me. Granted, its Facebook gallery does house an abundance of group photos, but Sutton’s should consider featuring at least a few on its website.

Aside from the blank pages, the design of the website is organized and readable, though a little outdated and generic. I’m not sure I like the background of wood planks. Unless you’re Sup Dogs and have a wooden outside patio, wooden planks don’t quite relate, but that’s just my opinion. The main font being used appears to be Lobster, which contributes to the retro style.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook – 5,146 likes
Twitter – 568 followers
Google+ – 3 followers

By far the most popular social media account for Sutton’s is Facebook, but that doesn’t mean the account is active. Sutton’s hasn’t posted to its Facebook account since August 2015, and it’s been offline Twitter since January 2015.

For smaller and more traditional restaurants, social media can be too big of a time investment for its worth, especially if the restaurant caters to an older demographic. But Sutton’s along with every shop on Franklin Street can leverage the hunger pangs of thousands of UNC students, a population that isn’t going anywhere and will never age. If Sutton’s can find the time to create a social media strategy and schedule social media posts, it could resonate with younger college students and pay off.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Sutton’s is an old-time favorite on Franklin, and though the drug store closed down, the restaurant won’t be going anywhere any time soon. To boost awareness and popularity, Sutton’s should update its website to include its famous history and photos, and it should consider becoming more active on social media. After all, don’t we all want to be reminded of hot dogs every once in a while?

Crêpe Traditions replaced Gigi’s Cupcakes in a prime location on Franklin Street last October, but it should have opened up in July under the name Crêpe Culture. The Daily Tar Heel reported that a negative social media reaction prompted the restaurant to rebrand and therefore delayed its grand opening. Many Twitter users pointed out that “Crêpe Culture” regrettably rhymes with “rape culture,” though the French pronunciation of crêpe actually rhymes with step.

While “Crêpe Culture” was alliterative and perhaps better expressed the owners’ vision of infusing crêpes into Chapel Hill’s culture, the pressure to rebrand prevented the restaurant from having to differentiate itself from a pre-existing crêperie in Singapore that yields top search results on Google. Not to mention, the handles @Crepe_Culture, @CrepeCulture and @TheCrepeCulture are all occupied on Twitter.

With its local ownership and friendly service, Crêpe Traditions evokes the sentiment of a quaint community-oriented shop. Its branding efforts are a step ahead of traditional, though. Unlike many local restaurants, Crêpe Traditions boasts a solid logo and clean web design, and it’s off to a good start with social media.

LOGO

Crêpe Traditions’ logo is characterized by an energizing orange, lime green and brown color palette. A triangular shape symbolizes the restaurant’s main feature (crêpes, of course), though it’s also reminiscent of a slice of pizza (maybe Crêpe Traditions should double as a pizza joint?). Swirls of steam rise up from the logo’s lettering, indicating that the restaurant also serves coffee.

The script font that “Crêpe” is written in evokes Parisian elegance, and the all-caps serif font of “Traditions” is, well, traditional. The two contrasting fonts complement each other well. Overall, the color scheme, graphics and typography do exactly what a logo should do – boil down the mission of the business into a simple and recognizable symbol.

BUILDING SIGNAGE

Crêpe Traditions covers all the bases on exterior signage. Letters unique to its logo sit above the entrance. A sign hangs perpendicular to the shop and conforms to the shape of others on the 140 West strip. A transparent version of the logo adheres to the front door. Finally, a chalkboard sandwich board promotes specials.

WEB DESIGN

Crêpe Traditions’ website embraces a simplistic design that showcases bright photos of its tasty food. It is easy to navigate, and the body font is large and readable.

However, a few flawed details stuck out to me that could use polishing.

1. Too much blank space in the header. The logo’s size and circular shape create a large amount of space at the top of the page when viewing on a computer. That blank space combined with space taken up by the image slider prevents important content from appearing above the fold (which refers to the portion of the website visible prior to scrolling down). To remedy this, Crêpe Traditions should replace its header logo with a horizontally arranged version such as the one hanging above its front door.
2. Too many frames in the image slider. The slider or carousel, which automatically flips through several photos, is packed with a whopping 18 frames. I couldn’t even sit through one third the slides without getting bored and moving on, rendering most of those frames useless. One consulting firm recommended never inserting more than five frames into an image slider. Crêpe Traditions should reduce the amount of images it features on its home page and instead provide a simpler gallery elsewhere on the site. Doing so might also speed up the load time of the homepage.
3. Poor formatting of image slider. Some web designers advise beginners to ditch sliders altogether in favor of simpler and faster loading alternatives. At the very least, Crêpe Traditions should alter its formatting to prevent chunky black borders from appearing when images don’t fit the slider dimension.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook – 252 likes
Twitter – 624 followers
Instagram – 52 followers

Crêpe Traditions has established its largest social media following on Twitter, where it is also the most active. The crêperie tweets about once a day and often attaches stunning photos of its cuisine, such as this Valentine’s Day crêpe.

Happy Valentine’s Day. #CrepeUP & share ur love on this LOVE day. BTW, we r open only from 11 to 2PM today. Plan it. pic.twitter.com/IvoMI9g9Ti

— CrêpeTraditions (@CrepeTraditions) February 14, 2016

The restaurant’s proximity to UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus supplies it with a young customer base, and since younger social media users tend to consider Instagram the most important network, Crêpe Traditions should reap the benefits by becoming more active on Instagram. The owners should consider engaging students through an Instagram contest, for which it could publicize on Twitter. Perhaps consumers could Insta photos of their crêpes or invent a new crêpe combination and Insta the recipe.

THE BOTTOM LINE

I was impressed to see the progress Crêpe Traditions has made in creating a name for itself in Chapel Hill, especially considering that its original name sparked a social media backlash. The crêperie’s dedication to friendly service and quality food, its professional logo and its high activity on Twitter have all set Crêpe Traditions up for potentially explosive growth. It should consider tweaking its website and interacting with students on Instagram to continue down the path to success.

What do you think of Crêpe Traditions’ logo and web design? What type of Instagram contest/prize would lure you in?

Mediterranean Deli, Bakery and Catering has served Chapel Hill residents fresh and authentic food from the Mediterranean and Middle East since Jamil Kadoura opened up the restaurant in 1992. Hailed for its wide array of healthy, vegan, gluten-free and organic options, Med Deli has certainly made a name for itself in Chapel Hill. It even opened up a second website to sell its gluten-free pita bread, which Kadoura said took one and a half years to perfect. My friends and I have a healthy obsession with Med Deli (yasmeen chicken salad anyone?), and I’ve often wondered to what extent the deli’s visual and online branding contributes to its success.

LOGO

Med Deli’s logo is a combination mark, meaning it spells out the name of the restaurant while also associating it with a symbol or illustration. But the logo’s illustration is clipped within an oval, which somewhat resembles a badge or emblem-style logo such as Starbucks. The illustration takes on a classic style and uses saturated yellow, teal and blue colors.

Generally, I’m not a big fan of unconnected casual script fonts such as the one being used here (hint: it’s Forte). This typeface reminds me of one you’d find on a list of standard Microsoft Word fonts. I’m not convinced it’s the best choice for the logo, but the heavier typography and bold color scheme translate very well onto Med Deli’s packaging, such as its pita bread.

What provokes me about the logo’s lettering, though, is the text’s lack of alignment to the oval (something I noted about Al’s as well). While “Mediterranean Deli” follows the oval’s curve perfectly, the same cannot be said about “Bakery and Catering.” Though the misalignment is subtle, once I noticed that “Catering” frays out, I couldn’t unsee it. Overall, though, Med Deli’s logo is versatile and accentuates its commitment to authentic Mediterranean cuisine.

BUILDING SIGNAGE

Like many restaurants on Franklin Street, Med Deli’s building signage relies on an awning. White letters contrast against black fabric, producing a minimalist style.

What’s missing from exterior signage is Med Deli’s logo. Producing a black or white transparent version of the logo (i.e. removing all color fills) might bridge the gap between Med Deli’s building signage and logo without becoming overwhelming.

WEB DESIGN

From 2001 to about 2009, Med Deli’s web design looked like this:

Now it looks like this:

Needless to say, the restaurant’s website has come a long way. Still though, something about the current web design is reminiscent of an older and outdated style (likely because hasn’t been revamped since 2009). It doesn’t adjust to varying browser widths nor does it offer a mobile-friendly version. On phones, smaller text becomes unreadable.

The logo displayed on the website differs from that displayed on social media. On the website, Med Deli’s logo appears in all green. It isn’t clear which logo is preferred by Med Deli or what the reason behind using two versions might be. Neither the green version nor the tri-color version blend well with the website’s beige/red color scheme. Perhaps a subdued yellow-green treatment of the logo (instead of the current Irish green) would better match the web design.

Another issue that appears on several pages is the overuse of signals to make text stand out. Most body text on the web is much larger than printed text (a font size of about 16 pixels is recommended), but Med Deli’s website packs on too many treatments in attempt to catch the reader’s eye. When everything on the homepage is bolded, underlined, in bright colors and centered, viewers will become overwhelmed and not know where to look.

Despite being guilty of a few design faux pas, Med Deli’s website does provide bright, high-resolution photos of its delicious cuisine.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook – 3,253 likes
Twitter – 357 followers
Flickr– 0 followers
Instagram – 118 followers

Of its social media platforms, Med Deli has by far garnered its largest following on Facebook. The deli posts infrequently and inconsistently, but when it does post, it links to merchandise, reposts news coverage, uploads photos or offers support for a cause. Because of its sizeable audience already established on Facebook, Med Deli has the means to continue growing on social media if it posted more frequently and engaged with its customers.

I was surprised to find that Med Deli doesn’t keep up with its Instagram account (its last post was two years ago!). With such vibrant food options ranging from yellow rice to roasted red pepper hummus to tabouli, it has a great opportunity to leverage the platform’s photo-sharing abilities. Instagram is considered to be the most important social network by teenagers, so Med Deli should consider becoming active on Instagram to connect with its younger consumers.

A visual issue I took with Med Deli’s social media accounts is that the square dimensions of profile pictures on Facebook and Twitter crop the edges of its logo.

To fix the cropping, Med Deli should add whitespace to the top and bottom of the logo image so that the entire logo is visible.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Med Deli serves exquisite authentic cuisine and deserves recognition for it. It can continue promoting brand recognition and growing its customer base by updating its website to become responsive to any browser width or viewing platform. Med Deli should also post to social media more frequently and take advantage of Instagram’s visual platform and young audience. Next time you go to Med Deli, share a photo on Twitter or Instagram, mention Med Deli’s account and urge the restaurant to become more active on social media!