This one was a super fun identity gig for Pete Manzo – the owner of… well… you guessed it… “Manzo’s Sausage Kitchen & Market”… but that’s not where we started.
When Pete and I got together to talk about his identity crisis – he’d recently taken over his family business(es) which included a catering company, a food importer, a small market and a sausage company… Each with their own names and sorta-logos.
Right outa the gate we agreed that one umbrella name and logo was needed.
Since this was a multi-generational family business – we wound up gravitating toward heraldic imagery … then that’s were we got silly and started having fun.
Referencing the old 1980’s film “Ferris Bueller Day Off” – snarkier friends would refer to Pete as “The Sausage King”…. so… well… why not run with that? It’s funny without knowing the reference to the Gen-X movie classic.
The company is based in a part of Saint Louis which has experienced a lot of re-growth and push to get onto the city’s radar – recently nicknamed “SoHa” (South Hampton).
“Sausage King of SoHa” ?
I put it on one of Pete’s concept layouts as sort of a joke – but… he liked it… so we asked: “WHY CAN’T WE SAY THAT?”
That decision would drive the tone of the rest of the identity which took on a light-hearted, good-natured, “doesn’t take it itself too serious” tone – which echo’s the personality of the man who runs the operation itself… Good ole’ Pete.
The Sausage Coat-of-Arms would be born – partially from the foundation of my own family crest re-design.
We developed two versions of the final logo – a clean and distressed version.
Pete’s partial to the distressed version – but pleaded with (made) him take a set of the clean one as a back-up since I know the whole scratched to death with steel wool look will eventually fall out of vogue.
That said – his original “Nice Sausage” T-Shirts (not my genesis) updated with the new logo and look in the distressed did turn out great… Anyone wanting to jump onto the vintage beat-t0-hell look for their own projects – you’re welcome to the mask I used on Pete’s. It’s HERE.
If you find yourself in Saint Louis – I seriously recommend popping in on The Sausage King and picking up lunch… it’ll be the best sausage you’ve ever stuck in your head.