SUMMER 2025
MORTE RESTAURANT
BRAND IDENTITY
For Graphic Design I, this project focused on developing a brand identity for a restaurant.
Morte, the word for ‘death’ in Italian, is a fine dining restaurant in Rome, Italy that focuses on the concept of “a meal to die for.”
OBJECTIVES
- Designing a wordmark for Morte
- Developing the brand identity for the restaurant
- Creating a website (digital touchpoint)
- Creating a menu (physical touchpoint)
- Additional mockups
CONCEPT STATEMENT
Morte is a luxurious fine dining Italian restaurant that revolves around the dark philosophy of an unforgettable last meal. Morte offers more than just a meal—it’s an experience: a final toast to beauty, indulgence, and mortality. Named after the Italian word for "death," Morte invites diners into an atmosphere where time slows, flavors linger, and every detail is designed to celebrate life by honoring its inevitable end. The restaurant is located in Rome, Italy, also known as the eternal city.
ESTABLISHING CORE VALUES
Every detail and flavor is crafted with purpose and precision designed to celebrate life by honoring its inevitable end.
As in Italian tradition, all ingredients are made from scratch including handmade pasta, slow-simmered broths, and freshly crafted sauces; all of which require patience, time, and care.
The customer’s dining experience should be memorable for the concept of a “last meal”
SKETCHES
Three concept sketches were developed for each core value, with each set designed to visually represent its corresponding principle.REFINING WORDMARK
Ultimately, the chosen wordmark featured a “T” stylized as a sword slicing through the wordmark, symbolizing the core value of an immersive experience. The design achieves a balance of elegance and flourish, while the intentional gaps not only maintain clarity and readability but also add visual intrigue, suggesting openness and discovery that draw the viewer further into the wordmark.WORDMARK ANIMATION
For the wordmark animation, a swift motion follows the path of the flourish, guiding the viewer’s eye until the sword slices through the text for a dramatic end. To enhance the experience, swift swoosh sound effects highlight the flourishing movements, while a sharp cutting noise emphasizes the sword as it pierces through the wordmark.
DESIGNING THE MENU
The initial menu design was developed in black and white to establish a clear layout prior to introducing color. These early iterations explored various combinations of serif and sans serif typefaces to determine the most effective typographic hierarchy. The final deliverable is a trifold menu with both front and back sides, designed to balance visual impact with readability.
The finalized menu is structured into four sections:
Prelude to the End — Appetizers
The Culmination — Entrées
A Taste of Immortality — Desserts
A Final Toast — Drinks
FINAL MENU DESIGN
The final menu design incorporated red gradient swooshes, symbolizing death through the dual imagery of blood and wine—blood representing mortality and wine evoking a final toast.
DESIGNING THE WEBSITE
The website was designed as a continuous scroll, incorporating the pouring of red, wine-like swirls within the graphics to guide the viewer’s eye seamlessly down the page. To maintain consistency with the menu, the same typographic pairing was used: the serif typeface Desire Pro and the sans serif Raleway.
The graphics were kept in black and white to evoke the restaurant’s air of mystery—symbolizing the uncertainty of what lies ahead with death. However, for the graphics of the dishes, full black and white treatments risked washing out the food and diminishing its appeal. To address this, aspects of the dishes, such as a detailed image of shrimp, were incorporated to preserve appetizing visuals. A dither effect was also applied to the graphics, reinforcing the theme of fading away, similar to the concept of passing.
DESIGNING WINE BOTTLES
Each wine bottle is designed as an extension of Morte’s identity. The minimal typography and simplicity of the design is what allows the wordmark and graphic to stand out. These wine bottles embody Morte's themes of indulgence and finality. The consistent use of the dither/noise texture on each of the flower graphics is what allows this set of wine bottles to remain cohesive and appear as one series.
Each bottle's colors are based onMorte's color palette, and it is also intentionally paired with their wine names.
"Pale Farewell" (Pinot Grigio) — White
"Nocturne" (Pinot Noir) — Black
"Bloodline Reserve" (Cabernet Sauvignon) — Red