ROCK & LOU'S PIZZA
ROCK & LOU
"Can you make a logo that looks like my dogs? "I could tell right away this was going to be an exciting project. "We're planning on a building food truck. Oh, do you also design food trucks? "
How do you create a pizza truck logo featuring two pet dogs? Easy, you make them mascots. We agreed the best way to have the dogs front and center was to turn them into mascots. We would use them in the logo and also appear in other places as a marketing tool to help create awareness and brand recognition.
The great thing about mascots is they are like actors. They can fill any role you can imagine for them. In this case, we wanted them front and center, and what better way to do that than to have them portrayed as the pizza chefs. So now that we had their rolls set up, it was time to create something fun and memorable. Most importantly, we wanted to create something that would stand out from the crowd. That's the thing about food trucks, the more they stand out, and the more memorable they are, the easier it is for your customers to find you. When our truck came rolling down the highway or rumbling around the corner, we wanted people to stop in their tracks and be delighted.
THE ASSIGNMENT
Create two main characters, Rock and Lou. They will be caricatures of the owner's two real-life dogs. Rock is a mixed breed, and Lou an Italian Greyhound. They will appear on a food truck selling specialty pizza. The characters will be used in all marketing material and branding.
THE CHARACTERS
ROCK & LOU
Rock is a lovable mutt, and Lou is an Italian greyhound. Both dogs had tremendous personalities so finding a likeness was vital. The owner sent me several photos of each dog and a description of their personalities. We had a few sketches go back and forth, but it wasn’t until I tried something a little off the wall that we landed on our solution. From there, it was a matter of fine-tuning.
After the initial interview, I often have a pretty good sense of direction, but I find it’s essential to also create checkpoints along the way. Once we’ve agreed on the approach, it’s time to solidify the look and feel. In this case, we were looking for something super-fun.
The beginning stages are where we set up the basics. That includes setting up guidelines for things like a color palette, fonts, design, etc. In this case, it took quite a few tries before we got it right, but the extra time was worth the effort.
