Working on this project was a lot of fun for me because I got the chance to do something different from my usual television/corporate branding or motion graphics. It is about branding a restaurant situated in Christchurch, New Zealand. Although it is open on the location of an older restaurant, the concept is new for that area. It tries to bring the cuisine and fine wines from all over the world to a very conservative market. The key terms of the design brief were new, different, excellent wine selection, royal purple, community hub and more. I started exploring a few directions for the logo and then moved over to a website concept (detailed in another entry of this portfolio website) and a series of ads for the local paper/magazine.
Below are two other logo alternatives developed in the process. First one is inspired by the spice bottle holders they use. The second one is an intermediate form that eventualy evolved into the final logo.