These are just speculative, rough draft designs. I plan to tackle some logos for a few other restaurants in the coming weeks. I think logos for restaurants are by nature pretty cheesy (see: logos for Olive Garden, Applebee’s, etc.), but it’s a pretty fun project.

The assignment: Design an illustrated logo for a Glendale restaurant. These are the as-is designs for Troy No. 6 Burger and El Sabrosito Restaurante y Pupuseria. The directive that we pick a restaurant in Glendale was pretty interesting because most of the eateries there are sans illustration, with a good number opting for generic sans serif red type on white. In the more posh sections of Los Angeles, restaurants are well-designed, pretty things where mood and atmosphere come before food (though often the food is quite good too). The waitress at El Sabrosito saw me taking a picture of the menu and excitedly pointed out the volcano on the front. Five volcanoes also make up part of the El Salvador coat of arms, which is featured on the menu and around the restaurant. So I figured: Volcanoes are very important!

At Troy Burger, I ordered a chocolate shake that I started drinking in the parking lot. Then I saw a miserable man outside of his car getting sick. Adam tossed the rest of the shake. That has nothing to do with logo design, but it was gross.