MORIVIVÍ
Executive Chef Carmelo Moyeno and his lovely wife, Arlene, were looking to launch an interesting new concept in fine dining – a cross between a catering service and a pop-up restaurant. They needed a logo as quickly as possible, but there were a couple of hurdles we needed to get over first, such as ‘what’s the company going to be called,’ and ‘what in the world is it they’re doing?’
Discovery
I have to admit, I had such a hard time trying to wrap my head around what it was they were doing, and there were so many questions – from me! It’s not catering and they weren’t serving fine cuisine in a brick-and-mortar establishment. Their unique concept was a fine dining experience that would be available to anyone who wanted grande cuisine served to them and a select number of guests in their home as though they were at a fine restaurant. Ok, so that finally settled what it is they were going to do. Now, what are they going to be called?
Initially, they were going with Lemongrass. Research began on how to tie in lemongrass into a restaurant concept. After some preliminary logo concepts were presented, the Moyeno’s decided to switch gears. The name had changed and the business was now going to be called Moriviví, a Spanish name given to a fern-type plant found in Puerto Rico. Upon being touched, its leaves appear to wither and close as though it has died only to return to its normal beautiful state once again after a short while.
Process
The word moriviví is made up of two phrases that are literally translated as, mori: ‘I died,’ viví: ‘I lived.’ Like the plant in its normal state, an extraordinary dining experience with the Moyenos would be beautiful and full of so many great things to stimulate the senses, but once the experience was had, the experience would end only to bloom again at their next scheduled event.
How can a logo represent this concept? They needed a brand image that would represent excellent food, high-end quality, simplicity, and style. This project served as a learning tool for me in many ways because the process made me realize that I didn’t ask the right questions during the discovery phase. This resulted in doing more work than necessary trying to find the right look because I didn’t take the time to really dig deep enough to know what my client needed. Lesson learned. Moving on…
The logo needed to communicate and represent the following...
Quality Service
Grande Cuisine
Simplicity
Style
If At First You Don't Succeed...
I was so determined to include the moriviví plant in the design since it was key to the brand. I went through several different ideas.
Too illustrative
Not clear enough
On the right track.
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Simplicity and style needed to dominate this design, and I was really overthinking it. Separating the name by its two literal meanings would be a great way to make it make sense. But what fonts should I use? Then I came across this font called Telegrafico, a clean sans-serif type that was bold enough to make a statement without being too overpowering.
There was still something missing in a way that would tie the name with the image in a very intentional way because the name had to reflect a similar characteristics to the plant. I needed something just a bit bolder to create the effect I was going for. Since the Telegrafico font didn’t have a bold typeface option, I had to find something similar and bolder. The answer was found in Vortice, a clean bold font that was just similar enough to work beautifully.
Color
The color palette was as simple as simple can get. Although my natural inclination was to go with a shade of green, the Moyenos had no doubt that it should just be black & white.
#000000
#FFFFFF
Final Design
The type set the tone for the rest of the logo design. The elements representing the plant would be a minimalistic illustration framed by a box. This is the final result and the version that Chef Moyeno and Arlene fell in love with.
Deliverables
Once we established what the final logo would be, the clients received their useable files, and decided to order some cool business cards also.
Another super satisfied client in the books!
We look forward to furthering our relationship with Moriviví and helping them grow!
