Taqado Mexican Kitchen

We were approached to design and create the brand for a new Mexi-Cali restaurant concept to be launched in the UAE. We worked with the client to define who they were and what they stood for. The manifesto formed the basis of the personality for the brand:

Taqado is a taste of Mexico. No, we’re not talking about sombreros and jumping beans, but Mexican cooking with fresh ingredients and colourful flavours. Our tone of voice is honest, descriptive (without going over the top) and always spoken with a smile. We try to paint a picture with our words so people can taste our sentences, but let’s not waste their time. Life is too short for long copy so let’s be fast, fresh and friendly.

The logotype was inspired by old luchador wrestling posters that use big, tightly stacked, woodblock-esque type. We found the Hoefler & Frere-Jones font Champion Gothic gave us the fantastic textural quality we were looking for. Visually we wanted to offset the type with a selection of Mexican inspired fun illustrated characters. We worked with the talented London based illustrator Robert Sae-Heng to create these. The illustrations are used to help support the overall positioning of the brand ‘A Taste of Mexico’. We wanted to create a textural experience at all touch points. With carefully chosen materials such as Mohawk’s Loop Antique Vellum Straw and biodegradable packaging. So much so the Taqado luchador’s (staff) stamp the take away bags themselves, street vendor style.

When it came to creating the ambience of the outlet we wanted to looked to define the essence of a street vendor cooking with authentic ingredients, just like you’d find at a sizzling kitchen in San Fernando, California. The uniforms, baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables, a chalk board menu, recycled bottle chandelier and hand painted nachos stands all added to the atmosphere.

We are currently working with the Taqado team developing 8 additional outlets for launch throughout 2013.