Project
Refreshing a bold and eclectic brand identity for a regional pizza chain to celebrate heritage, highlight product variety, and engage modern audiences.
Client
Polito’s Pizza
Duration
3 months
Completed
January 2019
Roles
Lead Graphic Designer, Brand Designer
Results That Moved The Needle
Polito’s Pizza is a Midwest-based pizzeria known for big slices, bold flavors, and authentic Italian heritage. This project refreshed their visual identity to create a hip, eclectic, and modern brand that highlights their Italian roots, showcases their wide variety of pizzas, and engages a younger, trend-conscious audience.
Outcomes
- In-store foot traffic increased 20%, reflecting stronger local awareness and interest in the updated experience.
- Customer feedback highlighted the playful yet authentic design, with many noting that the brand felt “fun, fresh, and unmistakably Italian.”
- Brand consistency improved across all touchpoints, including packaging, swag, and digital channels, supporting a cohesive, memorable experience.
Tri-fold Brochure
Tumblers
Business Cards
Vision For Growth
Polito’s Pizza aimed to create a bold, eclectic brand that honors its Italian heritage while appealing to modern, trend-conscious diners. The brand needed to:
Celebrate Italian roots
Honor the brand’s East Coast and Italian heritage while giving it a fresh, modern twist.
Showcase big slices and variety
Visually communicate the restaurant’s signature “big slice” experience and wide range of flavors.
Stand out in a crowded market
Develop a hip, eclectic, and bold look that differentiates Polito’s from other regional pizzerias.
Appeal to modern audiences
Incorporate playful, contemporary colors, typography, and illustrations to engage younger, trend-conscious customers.
Challenge
Create a bold, eclectic brand identity that honors Polito’s Italian heritage, highlights their “big slice” experience and wide flavor variety, and stands out in a competitive pizza market while appealing to modern, trend-conscious diners.
How The Brand Came to Life
The refreshed visual identity combines Italian heritage with modern, eclectic design to celebrate their big slices, bold flavors, and playful personality. It positions the brand as memorable, fun, and unmistakably Italian, standing out in a crowded pizza market.
Solving the Challenge
The design directly addressed key brand challenges by:
- Honoring Italian roots with the red star symbol adapted into playful pizza slices and a nod to tradition.
- Highlighting big slices and flavor variety through bold, contrasting typography and vibrant colors.
- Breaking the mold in the regional market with a hip, eclectic, and modern aesthetic that resonates with younger audiences.
- Creating a cohesive system that ensures consistency across packaging, signage, and digital channels.
Primary Logo
Alternative Logos
Horizontal
Color Palette
Tuscan Basilico
Rose Crust
Roma Ember
Typography
Lust Display Typeface
Proxima Nova Typeface
Illustrations and Patterns
Photography
Elevating the experience
Beyond the initial goals, the brand system elevates the customer experience with:
- A custom typography system combining bold, playful serifs with modern sans serifs to reflect Polito’s eclectic personality.
- Iconography and illustrations of pizza toppings and slices that celebrate the brand’s heritage while adding visual fun.
- A flexible, scalable identity system that works seamlessly across signage, menus, packaging, social media, and store interiors.
Results
Polito’s Pizza now stands out with a brand that feels authentic, bold, and eclectic. The new identity communicates heritage, highlights the “big slice” experience, and engages modern audiences, strengthening recognition and loyalty across all touchpoints.
My Process To Bring The Vision To Life
A strategic, design-driven process guided every decision to create a bold, eclectic, and modern pizza brand, guided by the following key principles:
Audience alignment
Defined the emotional tone to resonate with modern, trend-conscious diners while staying true to Polito’s Italian heritage.
Competitive contrast
Analyzed regional and national pizza branding to identify overused visuals and craft a distinct, playful, and modern aesthetic.
Scalable identity system
Built a flexible brand system including logo, typography, patterns, and illustrations, that works across digital, print, packaging, signage, and social media.
Heritage grounding
Drew inspiration from classic Italian symbols and traditional design cues, reimagined in a bold, modern style to honor the brand’s roots authentically.
Moodbard
From Concept To Launch
Week 1-2 Discovery & Research
Week 3–4 Concept Development
Week 5–6 Brand Identity Design
Week 7–8 Collateral Design & Delivery
Overcoming Challenges
Refreshing an established local favorite meant striking the right balance between authenticity, nostalgia, and a bold modern identity that felt true to Polito’s roots.
Obstacles
- Translating Polito’s fun, down-to-earth personality into a cohesive visual identity without losing its hometown charm.
- Differentiating the brand in a crowded regional pizza market filled with cliché Italian visuals and color schemes.
- Designing a system that worked consistently across menus, signage, packaging, and apparel, each with different production needs.
Milestones
- Delivered a complete visual system, including logo suite, color palette, typography, and supporting graphics adaptable across touchpoints.
- Created a scalable design foundation to support future menu expansions, new locations, and social campaigns.
- Rolled out branded collateral including menus, pizza boxes, swag items, and digital assets, that unified the customer experience from dine-in to delivery.
Design Lessons That Stick
Lessons learned
- Discovered how small visual details such as like texture, pattern, and color, can communicate warmth and community.
- Learned the importance of designing for both personality and practicality across fast-paced, high-traffic touchpoints.
- Gained deeper appreciation for branding that builds nostalgia without feeling dated.
Key challenges overcome
- Balanced Polito’s long-standing local identity with a fresh look that could grow with new locations.
- Maintained legibility and consistency across menus, boxes, signage, and apparel, each with distinct production constraints.
- Unified a diverse set of design applications under one recognizable visual voice.
Personal reflections
- Found fulfillment in helping a hometown favorite feel renewed without losing its roots.
- Appreciated the creative challenge of merging retro cues with modern polish to capture Polito’s spirit.
- Proud to have built a visual identity that’s both inviting and scalable that are ready to evolve alongside the brand.
Where To Go Next
The Polito’s Pizza brand was designed with flexibility and growth in mind. These next steps outline how the visual system could continue to evolve while keeping its hometown character intact.
Enhanced digital presence
Develop a refreshed website or app experience that highlights menu items, seasonal specials, and store locations to give customers an easier way to explore, order, and connect with the brand.
Expanded packaging system
Create additional packaging variations for catering, takeout, and delivery that keep the design consistent while allowing space for playful messaging and local personality.
Community-centered campaigns
Design event and social media campaigns that celebrate Polito’s role in the community like local sports sponsorships to pizza challenges and charitable partnerships.
Scalable in-store experience
Build modular signage, menu boards, and environmental graphics adaptable for future locations, ensuring each restaurant feels unique but unmistakably Polito’s.