Aielli

A modern, vibrant and elevated identity refresh for a local Italian restaurant that has been a neighbourhood mainstay for over 30 years.

Originally named after the quaint Italian town where the chef and owner grew up, Aielli has been serving patrons in the Port Credit community for over 30 years. Their original identity had been around for just as long, so we were approached to overhaul the restaurant's identity system, as they moved towards also revitalizing restaurant operations and renovating their dining room interior.

The overall art direction indicated a modern and vibrant style, while paying homage to the restaurant's Italian roots, and maintaining a feeling of family, togetherness, and simple food done right- the core principles behind Aielli's approach and success.

The Chiesa di San Giuseppe in Aielli Stazione is an iconic landmark in the town of Aielli, and was used as the main icon for this identity system. Inspired by the clean lines found in the architecture of the church itself, we utilized linear strokes in the same stroke weight for both the icon and the wordmark. Typography is reminiscent of Italian art deco, which plays homage to history, but remains clean, modern and sophisticated at the same time. In building our colour pallet, we started with the red and white of the church, and added other colours of the same tonal value, resulting in a complimentary colour pallet with strong tones and vivid contrast.