Minor Studio Project by Zuzanna Rusiecka

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-09-28 15:43:19 UTC

Brand talks

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-09-29 15:28:14 UTC

The first activity after the briefing was the brand talks, where for people and Donna Wilson/njas both had representatives to give us a more in depth insight into the brief and answer any questions we had for them. I took photos of useful slides from both presentations and made notes of useful information.

For People

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-09-29 15:33:41 UTC

Donna Wilson x Anjas

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-09-29 15:34:00 UTC

Logo (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 13:05:56 UTC

Menu (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 13:06:08 UTC

Procreate tomato sketches

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 13:11:11 UTC

Colour Palette

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 13:11:24 UTC

Restaurant menus

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 13:22:11 UTC

ZAZA - favourite family run local Italian
Mildred's - plant based chain in London
Famarcy - restaurant and farm in London
TOZI - high end restaurant chain in London and Amsterdam

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 13:24:24 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 13:24:27 UTC

Drawing Workshop

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 19:57:12 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 19:57:25 UTC

During a workshop in the studio I worked solely on redrawing tomatoes in as many forms as possible. Some were continuous line drawings or blind drawings, I also zoomed in focusing on the seeds and flesh of the tomato and zoomed out and drew a whole branch of tomatoes. I also played with the colours I was using and used the complimentary colours of a traditional tomato; I experimented with the materials I was using, by taking a chalk pastel sketch and rubbing it on another piece of paper to see what the residue copied onto the paper. This workshop allowed me to experiment with different ways such a simple object can be drawn, and this meant that I could really think about how I want the tomatoes in my logo and other designs to look.

Market research

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 20:24:30 UTC

I researched restaurants relevant to different areas of what I wanted mine to be so that I could gage the colour palettes, menus, logos and general feel of the restaurant that I wanted to go for. I chose the four restaurants below
ZAZA - favourite local italian
Mildreds - vegan restuarant
Farmacy - organic locally produced food
Brixton village - area I want my restaurant to be located

Tutor Tutorial week 3

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-10 20:25:22 UTC

- Good start, theres a lot you can work off of from here
- Invitation - i like the variety of size and colour with the tomatoes, you're keeping it on theme but its not too repetitive
- Menu - can you encorperate the tomato branch with the font, maybe creat a topper or border with it?
- Look at the font youre using and use indesign to see if it has any extra symbols and characters you could use
- Keep reinventing the tomato - different colours, cut it open, zoom in zoom out, like how you did in your workshop
- Start to think about spatial design, you could keep it as a sketch or make it much more, your logo could become 3D with tomatoes having off of the ceiling

Farmacy Kitchen

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 09:39:29 UTC

USP - Organic food from own farm
Colour Palette - pale green, mint, white
Prince range - £15-25
Location - Notting Hill, London

Brixton Village

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 09:44:45 UTC

USP - Food market with variety of places
Colour Palette - vibrant colours, neon
Prince rage - varied
Location - Brixton, London

ZAZA

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 09:47:46 UTC

USP - Authentic Italian
Colour Palette - brown, beige, pale green
Price range - £12-20
Location - Ruislip, London

Mildreds

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 09:49:37 UTC

USP - Plant based food
Colour Palette - muted vibrant colours, beige, white
Price Range - £9-15
Location - Multiple around London

Target Audience

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 09:51:01 UTC

My target audience is broad, as vegans and vegetarians are of all ages and genders. To appeal to the younger audience, I would need an active social media presence and would need to host events that I can promote, student offers, etc. To attract the older generation, who maybe more financially comfortable and be happy to spend more for the quality of our food, I would be offering organic products such as baguettes, tomato passata and tinned cherry tomatoes that we use in the restaurant to any customers.

Grand Opening Invitation (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 09:55:04 UTC

Organic food products Mock Ups

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 10:35:35 UTC

Takeaway packaging Mock Ups

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-11 11:33:49 UTC

Schedule

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-12 14:20:26 UTC

Aperol Research

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-13 16:53:19 UTC

I started thinking of events to attract Londoners to my restaurant and I thought to do a bottomless brunch during women's history month. I started thinking of real brands I could collaborate with and thought of Aperol, as they have become a very popular alcohol choice over the last few years especially for women and are an Italian brand so fit the theme.

Blue/purple event poster

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-13 16:56:38 UTC

I made a template of an event poster using the bright blue/purple colour palette, but ultimately decided it didn't look visually strong enough, as I wanted it to be really bright and completely different to the original set of designs, so I went back to Procreate and experimented with the colour tools some more, which is the I found the pink/orange colour way.

Bottomless Brunch Poster (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-13 16:57:11 UTC

Bottomless Brunch Menu (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-13 16:57:29 UTC

Market Place Harrow

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-18 12:36:32 UTC

I originally had plans to have the location of my pop up to be in Brixton Village, but it is filled with Italian restaurants already, and over the weekend I went to a different food market in Harrow, west London, which didn't have either plant based food nor Italian cuisine. It had cuisines from all around the worlds such as China, Turkey, Argentia etc. and I thought that my restaurant would be the perfect fit and wouldn't clash with anything that was already there.

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-18 13:37:52 UTC

Peer feedback poll (week 4)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-18 13:38:18 UTC

Peer feedback poll (week 4)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-18 13:43:16 UTC

Peer feedback poll (week 4)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-18 13:47:49 UTC

Logo design process

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-23 17:13:27 UTC

I went through a trial and error process making the logo, experimenting with the colours, text, layout/format, border, etc. I took a screenshot of the logo every time I made a significant change and made a few comments on what I liked and didn't like. Although I felt at times like I was going back and forth between designs, I could refer back to each logo and see them all beside each other, which allowed me to finalise the design confidently.

Complimentary colour experimenting

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-23 17:47:16 UTC

I wanted to play around with the colours of the tomatoes like in the postcard workshop, experimenting with complimentary colours and reinventing the tomato in my logo. I went onto Procreate and first of all changed the hue of each layer to show the complimentary colour, so I moved from an orange/red tomato to a teal one. I wanted to use the tomato I came up with for a nightlife/alchohol related event so I wanted a bright colour, so I therefore moved the brightness and saturation up to 100% too. I started replicating my logo and event poster with my new colour palette, but I started thinking about how I could take this further and keep experimenting with the hue, saturation and brightness in Procreate. I duplicated my bright blue tomato and started playing with the colour settings again, and that is how I ended up with the bright pink tomato. I started to think about how I could plan an event for Women's History Month with this tomato and thought of the idea of a bottomless brunch with Aperol. Aperol is an Italian brand so it follows the theme nicely, and the orange branch in the tomato reminded me of the colour of an Aperol Spritz. It is also a cocktail that women typically love.

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-26 13:04:46 UTC

Peer Feedback week 5

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-26 18:34:52 UTC

- Try to go to Eataly - good primary research
- The shape of the tomatoes arent perfect so you could make the shape of the logo less perfect
- Keep working on the font, maybe use oil pastels to write it like you used in the workshop because it will bring back that texture
- The tomatoes could become 3D, your packaging could become spherical and red like a tomato
- Make some packaging mock ups to show, its always nice to have something physical to show
- The brunch event has great potential, it shows that your brand can evolve and adapt
- Keep going with the brunch event, make some packaging mock ups to go with the invitation and menu

Peer feedback poll (week 5)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-29 11:28:13 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-10-29 11:28:35 UTC

EATALY

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-01 19:17:26 UTC

Eataly is an Italian restaurant and market that a peer suggested I look into during one of my CRITs, so I had a look on their website for the kind of food they sell. The food I was selling in my shop so far was fresh baguettes, tinned cherry tomatoes and tomato passata. I had a look at their packaging also, to see if mine met professional standards.

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-01 21:37:37 UTC

Client presentation lecture tips

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-01 21:48:02 UTC

Avoid using lots of generic mock ups, think of more personal and interesting ways to show your work
Consider the layout of your presentation, you want it to be clear and professional
Its okay to work digitally, but something physical is always good to have (model, packaging, etc.)
Consider sound, video, moving image, you want to bring your brand to life

Tutor tutorial week 6 - Mireielle

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-02 15:42:43 UTC

Very competent project, I could see this as a restaurant, but you're an illustrator, needs to be roughened up and re-explored
Take yourself back to the basics, Italian culture, you want the rustic aspect of an Italian vineyard with Milanese elegance
but some tomatoes, photograph them, cut them up, print with them, use the leaves and the stalk
I can see a finished product but I want to see more of you and your personality as an illustrator

Tutor tutorial week 6 - Leigh

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-02 16:52:54 UTC

Youre a good illustrator but you need to take more advantage of that
Look at oat milk companies, their websites their logos
Have fun with it, keep illustrating, maybe make a few prints too
I agree with Mireille, you need to bring more personality into it
I would choose a completely different font too, its not as fun as the tomato

Font change

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-02 16:54:10 UTC

After my tutorial I agreed that my font could still use some work so I decided to hand write my own font rather than refering to an existing font.

Post tutorial notes

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-02 16:54:49 UTC

After my tutorial where one of the tutors showed me the Oatly website, I wanted to take his advice forward and make more illustrations and keep working with the italian theme. I referred back to my menu of the kind of ingredients I was using and made more illustrations of food.

Traditional vs illustration

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-02 23:58:45 UTC

In my tutorial, i was advised to look at oat milk companies because its a product thats generall well illustrated, to encourage people to buy it and think that its cool to drink oat milk rather than cows milk. The comparison my tutor made was that my project currently looked like Califia Farms but i wanted it to look more like Oatly.

Oatly website - https://www.oatly.com/en-gb

Photography workshop

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 15:34:21 UTC

The light in your photo is really important
Hard light is having lots of shadows and the light is coming from one place mainly
Soft light is where the space is generally well lit throughout
You can use polysterine boards painted black to block light, a reflector to enhance the light (usually comes with a warm side and a neutral side), or a diffuser to diffuse the light.
You can alter the colour balance after you take the photo in Photoshop (command+b)
You can also alter the levels (command+I) to make it more punchy

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 15:48:29 UTC

No light vs light, you can use one light to create a harsh shadow on the opposing side or use both lights to create a soft shadow all around

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 16:01:31 UTC

One light on neutral setting

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 16:01:40 UTC

One light on warm setting

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 16:02:47 UTC

Two lights, one on either side, neutral setting

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 16:03:28 UTC

No light

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 16:04:54 UTC

After the demonstration I made some tomatoes out of modelling clay and photographed them in the set up, playing around with the lighting

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 19:17:37 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 19:17:51 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 19:18:09 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-03 19:18:53 UTC

Mockups (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 13:32:43 UTC

Logo 1

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 13:34:03 UTC

Mock ups (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 13:35:23 UTC

OATLY website design - graphics inso

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 13:41:53 UTC

OATLY packaging

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 13:45:08 UTC

I went to the supermarket to look at OATLY on the shelves and noticed that even the boxes that they are sold in, which aren't actually sold to customers, still have illustrations on them, which shows how well rounded their branding and packaging designs are through their brand

Logo 3 (final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 13:48:20 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 13:50:47 UTC

Tomato relief prints

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 14:12:43 UTC

I made some tomato relief prints to play around with the texture of both the tomato and its leaves. I took some black ink and a roller and experimented with the leaves first. they were quite dry, so it was difficult for me to get ink onto a large surface area of them without them crumbling, I tried dipping them normally, pressing them down with a heavy object or even just dipping them into a thick layer of ink, but they were too dry to make any interesting reliefs. the outside of the tomato also wasn't interesting to play around with, as rolling it on its side just made black lines and printing the top of the tomato made a doughnut like ring, but no texture came through. The most successful prints came when I cut the tomato open, because of all of the unique textures inside of the tomato. I could print with each tomato a few times, and I think the best ones were usually on the third of fourth pit where there was less ink so that the shapes and textures in the tomato showed up more. I noticed that the tomato was also very juicy so I had a paper towel at hand to soak up the tomato juice every time I cut a new slice, each slice gave a unique cut because of how the seed to flesh arrangement altered throughout the tomato. I photographed the tomato slice next to each set of prints after so that I could compare the tomato to its relief. I then photographed my favourite reliefs and scanned them into my iPad using abode scan, where I finalised and touched each print up in Procreate.

Tomato print relief outcome

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 14:17:20 UTC

I edited the prints and started to arrange them into a pattern because I want to use it as the background of my new menus and event posters

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 14:23:11 UTC

After I decided I wanted a more graphic approach, I looked at my menu and made more illustration of food that I was serving such as pizza, capers salad, ravioli and tomato soup.

POST TUTORIAL CHANGES

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 14:40:31 UTC

In my final tutor tutorial, a week before the client meeting, I spoke to my tutor where he made a comparison to me about different oat milks, where mine looked too much like --- and it should look more like OATLY, because of the potential of my tomatoes.

Both tutors also suggested I have more fun with the brief and play around with the tomato more, be ;less practical and more experimental.

after the tutorial I decided to make some more illustrations and change my logo one more time, to be my own font and work better with the illustrations. I chose the graphic route over the rustic, classic Italian illustrations because it was more playful and translated who I was as an illustrator more.

Packaging models

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 15:38:33 UTC

After the client presentation lecture, I decided it would benefit my project if I had something physical to show for my project, so I wanted to bring some of my packaging to life. I bought a tin and jar of tomato products from the supermarket and took the original label off of them. I then printed off my passata and tinned cherry tomato labels when I was next at uni. I used the gilotene to get a really clean straight cut. I got the size of the jar right the first time but for the tin I printed one label that was the right height but it wasn't wide enough to cover the whole circumference of the tin. the next one I printed was far too large and although it was wide enough so I could trim down the height, I thought it would loose far too much of the design. I tried one last time to make it as tall as the first one but as wide as the second, and it came out perfect. I used UHU multipurpose adhesive to stick down both labels and just before I stuck the passata label to the jar I cut the corners a curved edge, as that is what the original packaging had and I liked the look of it.

Menu (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 17:36:05 UTC

Grand Opening Poster (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 17:36:48 UTC

Menu and poster (not final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 17:53:41 UTC

I wanted to keep all the branding cohesive so I used the illustrations that I used for the packaging as a background for the event posters and menu, but I think it looks too busy and unclear

Packaging collages

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 18:53:10 UTC

This is one of the examples of the collages I made of my food illustrations for the packaging, however I used different arrangements for each piece of packaging to fit its shape and size.

Passata packaging

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 18:53:28 UTC

Tinned cherry tomato packaging

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 18:53:46 UTC

Peer feedback poll (week 6)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 19:02:49 UTC

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-07 19:04:25 UTC

Oatly Poster Inspo

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-08 21:41:23 UTC

General Client Feedback

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-10 11:27:32 UTC

Look out how brands present their colour palettes
Show brief, struggles and journey, and then the outcome
Only a few people included spatial graphics which really brings everything to life
Use the facilities in the building as much as you can
Start considering deeper than visuals, how does it smell, feel, what materials are you using
In what ways are your project sustainable
Why did you do the things you did, how was your decision making process like, clients will ask you this

Individual Client Feedback

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-10 22:05:17 UTC

Consistant visual identity
Imagery week rendered
Colour Palette communicates
There is more scope for experimentation
This looks like a product that is already very familiar

Client Feedback Presentation

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-10 22:13:06 UTC

The feedback I received after the client viewed this presentation was:

Consistent visual identity
Images well rendered
Colour palette well communicated
More scope for experimentation
Looks like a product that is already very familiar

Client feedback set up

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-10 22:13:47 UTC

Packaging made by tomato skins

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-10 22:19:50 UTC

https://www.robaid.com/tech/packaging-made-from-tomato-by-product-waste.htm

I did some research on sustainability in packaging and decided to research if there's any way that tomatoes have been used to create food packaging. I came across BIOCOPAC which is this idea where tomato by-products (tomato skin) are used to create lacquers to cover metal food tins, which I would use on my cherry tomato tins.

Packaging made by tomato stems

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-10 22:21:58 UTC

I also found a way to use tomato leaves and stems to make cardboard that has been researched in Slovenia.

BIOCOPAC Collaboration Poster (final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 15:48:25 UTC

The Paper and Pulper Institute Poster (final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 15:48:49 UTC

Sustainability collaboration Posters Mock Ups

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 16:01:14 UTC

The Paper and Pulper Institute Poster Mockup

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 18:19:03 UTC

BIOCOPAC Poster Mock Up

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 18:19:36 UTC

Aperol Spritz Event Poster Mock Up

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 18:19:52 UTC

Grand Opening Poster Mock Up

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 19:53:25 UTC

Aperol Spritz Poster (final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 19:53:49 UTC

Grand Opening Poster (final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 19:54:06 UTC

Aperol Event Logo (final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 19:59:52 UTC

Menu (final)

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 20:00:08 UTC

Font

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 20:03:14 UTC

Throughout the entire project I couldn't find a font that was working for me, so I decided to make my own font on Procreate and use it for my menu, posters, etc. I took inspiration from the Oatly poster font and made it very simple and graphic.

Post client feedback notes - USP

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 20:04:47 UTC

After my feedback from the client, I started to think how I could make my work less “familiar” and started to think of a USP because i realised I didnt have one. The whole concept of my restaurant from the name and branding through to the food is cherry tomatoes, so I started thinking about how I can take this one step further. I started researching ways you can recycle tomatoes and found two companies: The Pulper and Paper Institution and BIOCOPAC, which both use byproducts of tomato production to create packaging. I decided to encorporate this into my restaurant and create collaboration posters with both brands to promote my USP.

Spatial Design Sketch

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-14 20:05:21 UTC

I also realised that my peers who worked with spatial design recieved good feedback about that, so I made some quick preliminary sketches of what my restaurant would look like ahead of the deadline, that I would tried to 3D render if I had more time. Marketplace, where I am designing my pop up to be, has a communal seating area so I designed the kitchen only. Since I was working with a small space, I had to make it as interesting as possible. I sketched the tomatoes from my logo as a hanging piece from the ceiling and hung my posters on the walls of the kitchen.

Evaluation

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-15 13:55:48 UTC

I think the most successful part of my project was responding to feedback and adapting my project around it, I stayed engaged with my tutors and peers throughout the eight weeks and took on board as much as I could from them and recorded the process. The documentation of my process was another thing I am proud of, as I feel that you can see the journey I went on from start to finish in my blog, that includes thoughts, visuals, research reflection, etc.

A part of my project I think could have been much stronger was spatial design. I had some great ideas with installing a hanging 3D render of my logo on the ceiling and decking the restaurant out in reclaimed wooden furniture, but I really struggled with finding a way to visualise that. If given more time, I would take more time to work on my Sketch Up skills and bringing the atmosphere of my restaurant to life with that.

My target audience is broad, as vegans and vegetarians are of all ages and genders. To appeal to the younger audience, I would need to host events that I can promote, student offers, etc. To attract the older generation, who maybe more financially comfortable and be happy to spend more for the quality of our food, I would be offering organic products. Vegans and vegetarians also tend to be more eco-conscious, so sustainable packaging would help engage an audience. such as baguettes, tomato passata and tinned cherry tomatoes that we use in the restaurant to any customers. I think I hit this target well by organising my Aperol Event which gave young people a fun day out for a discounted rate, collaborating with The Paper and Pulper Institute and BIOCOPAC for sustainable packaging and minimal food waste, and opening up a food market in my restaurant to sell organic produce.

During the brand talks, For People suggested that we take a look at competitors so I researched a range of restaurants and picked up what I liked from each. Eataly and Farmacy inspired me to sell organic food alongside my restaurant, ZAZA inspired me to stay in touch with the authentic Italian feel and Brixton Village and Marketplace allowed me to delve into the atmosphere of a food market.

I learned some new skills in this project that I have never done before. The first was making my own font. I was struggling throughout my project with finding a font that I truly thought fit my brand and I couldn’t find one for weeks. After writing my own text on my logo I grew the confidence to work with my own font and although it was tedious, I think it really payed off and make my posters especially stand out.

Aperol Spritz Event Pizza Box Mock Up

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-16 12:37:51 UTC

Aperol Sports Event Menu Mock Up

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-16 12:39:44 UTC

Photos of shop products

zrusiecka12202011 — 2023-11-16 12:49:23 UTC