Pizza! Always a delicious slice of memory. Of Italy. Of sun, espresso, the Vespa. Of the unique Italian instinct for lifestyle and dolce vita. Marché International tunes into this attitude towards life with its new restaurant concept, reinventing the pizza with White Monkey. To underscore this unconventional approach, the internationally aligned restaurant brand clearly positions itself as a pizza lab and bar: ingredients are combined in unusual ways; the pizzas are long instead of round, they are cut with scissors and shared amongst friends; the pizzeria becomes a cocktail bar, an urban meeting place that is open all day. In the constantly expanding yet fiercely competitive market of system gastronomy, it is crucial to do more than just present a coherent restaurant concept. With a Corporate Design that comprises not only interior design, but also the complete brand communication from logo to restaurant décor to website and social media presence, we have created a consistent and remarkable brand image for the White Monkey brand – with interdisciplinary thinking in place of salami tactics.
If You Really Want to Reinvent Pizza, There’s No Point Employing Salami Tactics. Interior Design and Communication for White Monkey.
White Monkey Pizza Lab & Bar
White Monkey is a new restaurant concept from Marché International with the declared aim of reinventing the pizza experience – and your experience of pleasure. A task that an interdisciplinary studio such as ours always relishes. Because successful restaurant chain concepts require holistic thinking that combines architecture, branding, communication and design. We supported the project across all these fields.
If you call yourself an innovative Pizza Lab & Bar, you need someone that understands how to turn the conventional on its head with a cheeky twinkle in the eye.
Marché has a passion for quality and freshness. We translate this passion into a visual and spatial identity, which interprets traditional roots in a contemporary and modern way, drawing them firmly into the here and now. The White Monkey philosophy is already reflected in the logo: trusted memories are replenished with new elements and condensed into a collage. The combination of a classic serif font with a monkey topping the O and a modern font produce a striking visual appearance. The palette of corporate colours features warm rose, red and earthy tones, reflecting traditional Italian culture. Their combination with blue and yellow tones creates a cultivated tonal balance. Wall-filling collages pick up the past through nostalgic motifs, before transposing them into a modern, urban context through oversize flower motifs, colourfully abstract forms and elements of the surreal. The same applies to the large billboard, a nod to the simpler advertising media of times past, which conveys White Monkey philosophy through tongue-in-cheek slogans.
This mixture of traditional and novel elements runs through the entire material, colour and design concept. The materials used are earthy ones, and their tactile nature and tonality succeed in drawing the Italian lifestyle into the space. Acting as a modern antithesis, many oversized chains of pearls are distributed throughout the space. These are formed by different sizes of spheres and ellipsoids, and reflect the form of a pizza. These chains of beads are repeated in the table legs at the bar, in the filter elements, as well as in the wallpaper that was specially designed for White Monkey, in which the abstract forms are transferred into a two-dimensional design.
The figure of the eponymous white monkey, that turns the conventional world of pizza on its head with a cheeky twinkle of the eye and fresh ideas, presents itself as a friendly brand ambassador. It greets the guests as a neon sign on the outside façade, before reappearing in different guises inside: as an occasional table, lamp or signpost. As a trusted yet often perplexing element, it accompanies guests throughout their visit – even into the toilets. The monkey can be found as a logo on glasses, carafes and bread bags, while monkey-shaped business cards invite you to play with the friendly brand ambassador and taken it with you. Pizza boards and menagerie were also specially designed for White Monkey. The shape of the menus resembles pizza boards; the wall collages are referred to in the graphic design.
Collages in the restaurant and the communication play with memories of the Italian dolce vita, thus bowing down to pizza as a formative culture.
We have consistently implemented the branding for all further communication media such as invitation cards, posters, advertisements, website and social media channels.
Jalapenos, onions and ricotta? Yes, all of that comes on the new pizza creations.
And with memorable neologisms in the communication, in line with the motto: If it sounds tasty, we’ll make a pizza out of it.
White Monkey is a lusty, lively and often crazy concept with an unusual, almost surreal design and an integrated brand image that focuses on indulgence, lust for life and pleasure in being together.
Facts & Figures
- Kim Angenendt
- Axel Knapp
- Jörg Skalecki
- Kirsten Wagenbrenner-Ziegler
- Skalecki Marketing & Kommunikation
