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Project Overview
A casual brand in a formal script
Jon & Vinny’s is a celebrated Los Angeles eatery known for a warm Italian soul and a distinctly Californian ease, built on informality that is very hard to reproduce deliberately.
As part of MJS Investment’s expansion into the Middle East, the Riyadh debut needed a cultural translation that kept that ease while speaking directly to a Saudi audience.
Storm was entrusted with localizing the identity. The aim was not to translate the brand but to transform it, so it arrives familiar rather than imported.
Project Details
Client
Jon & Vinny’s
Sector
Hospitality · Casual Dining
Location
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Services
Brand Localization · Arabic Identity Adaptation · Cultural Brand Adaptation · Brand Collateral
Engagement
Website
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The Challenge
Informality is the hardest thing to carry
The brand’s character is casual, and casual is the most fragile quality to move between scripts. Arabic letterforms carry formality by default, and the wrong choice turns a neighbourhood restaurant into an institution.
A guest in Riyadh should feel invited rather than marketed to. That depends on the identity reading as local, not as an international brand that has added a translation.
At the same time the Los Angeles original is the reason the restaurant is interesting. Localising past the point of recognition would remove exactly what was being brought to the market.
WHAT WE DID
- Integrated Arabic typographic elements into the original logotype rather than beside it
- Preserved the iconic style so the mark stays recognisably the same restaurant
- Tuned the letterforms to hold informality inside a script that defaults to formality
- Built a wider visual adaptation strategy across the brand system
- Merged the California character with the rhythm of Riyadh across collateral
- Kept every decision anchored to emotional resonance rather than literal accuracy
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Storm 4D Method®
From research to reality
1/4 Discover
Studied what makes the original work, and found the value sitting in informality and warmth rather than in any single graphic element.
2/4 Define
Set the goal as transformation rather than translation, so the Riyadh identity would be designed to feel familiar to a local guest rather than accurate to a dictionary.
3/4 Design
Integrated Arabic typographic elements into the existing logotype while preserving its style, tuning every curve so the mark stays casual in a formal script.
4/4 Deliver
Extended the work across the visual system and collateral, merging the soul of California with the rhythm of Riyadh without diluting either.
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Scope of Work
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Client Testimonial
MJS Investment
