Getting a Mediterranean QSR
brand-ready for expansion

DATE
07.2023

The Challenge:

Taïm was a Mediterranean quick service restaurant chain with ambitious expansion plans, but it lacked any discernible brand.
It had no positioning, no strategy, no distinctive assets, no tone of voice, and no consistent look or experience to its restaurants.

The Task:

I had to create a verbal and visual brand identity for Taim that could be brought to life across every customer touchpoint.

Our research indicated that authenticity was the area we could truly own; authenticity of our origins and authenticity of our recipes and the ingredients we used.

To visually bring the Mediterranean to life we created a simple yet impactful graphic language of the sun, sea, rain and land.

Series of four landscape images showing a sunrise, ocean, rain on grass, and rolling hills with farmland.

We paired that with a vibrant color palette and some mouthwatering product photography to land on an overall look and feel:

A Mediterranean wrap sandwich filled with egg, bacon, and vegetables, wrapped in flatbread, on the cover of a green and yellow snack food package.
A bowl of salad with chopped vegetables, grilled chicken, feta cheese, and herbs on a yellow background with text promoting food ingredients.
Close-up of a Mediterranean salad with greens, beets, mandarin oranges, pickled onions, feta cheese, slivered almonds, and salad dressing in a small white bowl, on an orange background with text promoting crave-worthy salads.
Front view of a taco restaurant with large glass windows, red brick exterior, and a wooden bench outside. Inside, a person is preparing food behind the counter, with hanging pendant lights and a brick interior visible.

The Execution:

We then set about bringing this new brand to life across every customer touchpoint.  

From forgettable, one-off exterior designs…

Exterior of a restaurant with large windows and yellow chairs outside. A yellow sign with black text reads 'NOW OPEN!' and there is a smaller sandwich board sign promoting falafel. The restaurant's name is 'taim' and a large sign on the window mentions the restaurant's location.

…To a cohesive brand look

Interior of a modern coffee shop or cafe with wooden tables and black metal stools, colorful mural on the wall, pendant and track lighting, and a view of the kitchen area in the background.

From dark, dimly lit, narrow spaces…

Interior of a cafe with wooden tables and stools, featuring wall art with a beach scene and green patterned panels, and yellow shopping bags on a shelving unit.

…To a brighter, fresher, and more open design

And once you crack the basic building blocks of a brand, the execution gets a lot easier.

Two men wearing yellow T-shirts with different graphic designs and texts, standing against a plain background.
Instagram post from eat_taim showing a step-by-step process of making marinated lemon chicken, including preserving lemons, preparing a tangy, fruity bite, lightly marinating chicken before roasting, and finishing with chunks of tangy lemon with herbs and vegetables.
Banner advertisement for a restaurant named Ta'im, offering bowls, pittas, and salads. The banner features a bowl of salad with grilled meat and dressing on a wooden surface. The background color is yellow with black and brown text, and the address is 225 Varick Street, NY.

We also injected this bright, fresh and vibrant look into our product photography:

Empty black screen with no visible objects or text.
A computer window displaying a chessboard with pieces in the middle of a game.
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Results:

This new look and feel guided all our communications at Taim and were the coordinates used for nine new restaurant openings.