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2026 · Identity

Paolo Pizza

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Year
2026
Role
Design
Type
Client
Discipline
Visual Identity
Team
Solo — identity
Status
Shipped

Problem

Paolo had a real craft story and a generic-pizza identity risk.

Approach

I designed a one-line mark of pizza in motion, then paired it with a serif wordmark.

Outcome

A compact identity the kitchen can use on signage and print without looking like a chain.

Craft on a plate, not a stock logo

Paolo is a family kitchen, not a franchise. The brief was a logo that could carry that: the way dough is stretched, the secrecy around the flour, the slightly theatrical pride of a pizzaiolo who knows the recipe is the point.

I started from motion, not from a slice icon. The mark is one continuous line — naive on purpose — so it feels drawn in the kitchen rather than bought from a template pack. The name sits in a serif to stop the mark from becoming cute. Ingredient illustrations extend the same hand into menus and print.

This is identity work I directed and designed: mark, type pairing, and the supporting drawings. The system is meant to be used by a small team, not locked in a 80-page brand book nobody opens.

Three calls that kept it a kitchen, not a chain

  1. 01

    Motion in one line, not a slice icon

    A pizza triangle would have been category noise. The mark is dough being worked — naive on purpose — so it feels drawn in the kitchen rather than bought from a template pack.

  2. 02

    A serif wordmark against a naive mark

    Without the serif, the line-drawing becomes cute. The type pairing is what lets the brand sit on a window and still read as a serious kitchen.

  3. 03

    Ingredient drawings instead of a thick brand book

    A family pizzeria will not maintain 80 pages of rules. A small set of illustrations extends the hand into menus and print, which is the system they will actually use.

What I designed

A one-line pizza mark, a serif wordmark, and a small set of ingredient illustrations. Together they give Paolo a voice that is specific — craft, heat, flour — instead of “red-and-green Italian.”

What I’d do differently

  • I would have designed the takeaway box as a primary application, not a nice extra — that’s the artefact people leave with.

  • I would have tested the one-line mark at 16 pixels earlier. Naive lines disappear in a Google Maps pin if the weight isn’t locked.

FAQs

A family kitchen with a real craft story needed a mark that did not look like generic-pizza clip-art or a franchise.
A pizza triangle is category noise. The mark is dough being worked — naive on purpose — so it feels drawn in the kitchen. A serif wordmark keeps it from reading as cute.
A one-line pizza mark, a serif wordmark, and a small set of ingredient illustrations the kitchen can use on signage and print without an 80-page brand book.
I would have designed the takeaway box as a primary application and tested the one-line mark at 16 pixels earlier — that is the artefact people leave with, and naive lines disappear in a map pin.

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