2022 Eat Drink Design Awards: Best Identity Design

Jury comment

This venue is pervaded by a sense of fun and a “visit to Nonna’s house”-level of nostalgia. The identity design is a winner because it enthusiastically comes to the Rocco party and stays to share a glass of vino and a bowl of pasta. The typeface, the colours, the youthfulness and the attitude all sing from the same happy songbook. It’s light, it’s refreshing, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s familiar and it’s good. Even the ashtray is memorable and was loved by the jury –and none of us even smokes! The attention to detail includes graphic work for signage, napkins, menus and business cards, with even the uniforms, glassware badging and product packaging carefully considered. As a dine-in venue, this is familiar territory, but the identity work has been conceived to project its life well beyond the venue – in social media feeds and in the ephemera of the thriving takeaway side of the business, popular with locals. In short: we love it, and we are not alone.

Design statement

This comprehensive identity for Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca, an Italian restaurant on Fitzroy’s iconic Gertrude Street, is inspired by trattorias of Melbourne’s past. The project includes branding elements used throughout the venue, digital assets and ongoing social media creative work. The client worked with the wonderful Melbourne interior design agency Studio Co and Co to conceive a unique space that is not only a feast for the eyes, but also warm, familiar and comforting. With rich amber-wood details and curtain-covered windows, the two-storey space pays homage to vintage Italian trattorias and visits to Nonna’s house. The identity design team worked closely with the interior designers to ensure their work supported the vision for the space. The branding rollout included identity signage, menus, napkins, business cards, uniforms, glassware badging and packaging. As Rocco’s is not only a dine-in venue, but also a popular takeaway business, the identity designers had to ensure that the graphic elements didn’t just sit comfortably within the four walls, but also stood out and lived proudly on the street or in someone else’s home or office.

Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca is built on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.

Designer Congrats Agency Project team Emilio Scalzo