Lenoir

Brand Design
Overview
From chef, author, and host of the PBS hit shows, Somewhere South and A Chef's Life, Vivian Howard's newest restaurant, Lenoir is a reminder that the South is a nuanced place with a storied history and disparate terrain that shapes us as well as our food traditions. Named for Vivian’s home county in eastern North Carolina, Lenoir exalts the pillars of Southern hospitality while it perpetuates, honors and evolves the cuisine of the rural, agricultural South. Food with a story just tastes better.
My Contributions
After working on two PBS tv shows staring chef Vivian Howard, the brand design for Howard's bakeshop Handy + Hot, and multiple one-off designs for two of her other restaurants, Chef & the Farmer, and the Boiler Room I was approached by chef Howard to create the logo and brand for her forthcoming restaurant, Lenoir located in Charleston, SC.
Lenoir restaurant in Charleston, SC logo design by Margaret McNealy, McNealy Design
Lenoir restaurant in Charleston, SC logo design by Margaret McNealy, McNealy Design
Lenoir restaurant in Charleston, SC branding design by Margaret McNealy, McNealy Design
Lenoir restaurant in Charleston, SC branding and coaster design by Margaret McNealy, McNealy Design
Process
In approaching the design for Lenoir I began with an understanding of Vivian's story and dove into researching the two places that Vivian would fuse for her next restaurant, Lenoir County, NC and the Souths mecca of fine dinning, Charleston, SC. In working with Vivian and her architectural designer it was apparent that Lenoir's branding would be best suited as layered and nuanced as the food she would be serving. I drew inspiration for the color pallete and tobacco leaf iconography from a photograph taken on a farm in Eastern North Carolina. The clean aesthetic of fine dining juxtaposed with the textural elements of tobacco farms, indicative of Lenoir County, were the anchoring concepts of my typeface, pattern, and menu design choices. From tobacco sticks and butterbean pans to punchy patterns and bright colors, the design elements of Lenoir are inviting and symbolic of the experience you're guaranteed when dining there.
Deliverables
• Logo/Brand Design
• Menu Design
Lenoir restaurant in Charleston, SC dinner and drink menu design by Margaret McNealy, McNealy Design
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