The Tatted PIG, 2020

This project was for my Typography II course, and I was required to conceptualize a restaurant theme fusing two unlikely components, and build both a cookbook, as well as menus that would be found in the restaurant. For this, I chose the hard-edge spunk of a motorcycle gang, combined with cruelty-free eats, which resulted in a “pop-up” restaurant of sorts. The mission of the restaurant was geared towards helping communities that deal with food deserts, which are essentially rural areas that don’t have the money or access to quality food, resulting in deteriorating health and quality of life.

A lot of food deserts are the small towns that make up the South. I see it all over the place on my drive down to visit my grandparents in rural Alabama. People struggle to put fresh food on the table, and resort to processed and prepackaged food bought at the local dollar store, or fast food from down the road. It undoubtedly has a huge impact on my family’s health, but they live too far away from any bigger cities to make trips to quality grocery stores or farmer’s markets. With my concept, the kitchen would plant itself into these food deserts, like the one my family lives in, and provide them with Southern comfort food they know and love, with a healthy vegan twist.

CookBook

A lot of the visual motifs centered around the grungy hard metal ambiance that surrounds biker culture. I chose a black and white color palette, as it creates a moody and classic feeling; something that I feel when I think of bikers. The splashes of red were used to bring attention to certain parts of my book, or, through the use of line and shape, evoke imagery similar to the double-lined marks painted on the road. My typeface choice was based on traditional tattoo fonts that are typically found on motorcyclists. I made a lot of outline illustrations to feature on most of the spreads, including a motorcycle, chains, a leather jacket, a speed sign, a skull wearing a common motorcycle helmet, a traditional tattoo of a lady, and of course the brand’s logo.

With the logo — as well as the name, The Tatted Pig — I was somewhat inspired the patches that represent a motorcycle gang, but mostly by a photo I saw during my research; taken by an artist who tattooed live pigs. The pictures were beautiful, but there was a large debate over whether or not the artist’s actions were considered an act of cruelty, especially given how intelligent and emotionally aware pigs are. I thought this tied into my brand identity in an interesting way, given that a lot of what makes up American cuisine features the meat of pigs, for things like pulled pork sandwiches, bacon on burgers, or brats for someone’s grill. It asks the question if our indulgent culture is cruel to domesticated farm animals.

I am not vegan; I enjoy meat every once in awhile, but I am always open to trying plant-based dishes and meats. I find that one of the challenges when it comes to introducing vegan or healthy food to a new group of people, especially in the South, where food makes up a lot of their culture, is trying to make an alternative that is still tasty. It’s always fascinated me how some vegan food on the market can be made to taste exactly like a dish that features real meat.

Menus