Cruel Restaurant by Inês Vieira
Opened since August 2015, Cruel has already become the place to be in Porto - its menu challenges the palate and offers a one of a kind experience with unique and irreverent flavors. The menu is divided into three levels of intensity, - cruel, cautious and fearful - satisfying the desires of those who like to take risks but also to those who prefer to play it safe.
Inês was responsible for the art direction and graphic design; Rafael Viana was the web developer and Bruno Carvalho was the photographer.
Taking into account the restaurant's concept, the brand starts with an impacting typographic logo with considerable visual weight. The harsh cuts on the typography mirror the menu's concept, while still reflecting its sophisticated clients. The color palette and materials were chosen with the intent of extending the experience; one that must be felt with all four senses.
- Inês Vieira
In the beginning there was a lot of pencil, paper and several scribbled notes. Illustrator was the main software used afterwards, but Photoshop was also used to retouch some of the photos.
There were a lot of talks with the client, to always ensure that things were in the right direction. Before the project started, Inês experienced a food tasting with the restaurant's chef, which was clearly one of his favourite parts!- Inês Vieira
It's an extraordinary feeling to go to Cruel's Instagram and see all the pictures people are taking of the menu! It really does show that branding is more than a logo, it's how a brand interacts with its costumers. In this case, it's all because of the restaurant's slogan "Life can be Cruel. Eat and forget it", that people can relate so much.
Cruel was the first restaurant Inês designed and for that same reason, there were a lot of lessons learned, from the materials to use on the menu (to make it last longer) to the all the legal obligations that he has to design.- Inês Vieira
About Inês Vieira
Portuguese graphic designer, currently working at nock design in OPorto, Portugal. Graduated in Graphic Design on ESAD, School of Arts and Design in Matosinhos. Main interests are editorial, branding, posters and packaging.