(01) Project Overview
Client
Jon & Vinny’s · MJS Investment
Sector
Hospitality · Casual Dining
Deliverables
Arabic Identity Adaptation · Brand Collateral
Credits
Brand Localization · Cultural Brand Adaptation
Engagement
Storm Partner™
Website
(02) Challenge
Carry the informal character
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, and that depends on the identity reading as local rather than as an international brand that has added a translation. At the same time, the Los Angeles original is the reason the restaurant is interesting at all. Localising past the point of recognition removes exactly what was being brought to the market.
(03) Decision
Adapt the brand’s character
The position
The value sits in informality and warmth, not in any single graphic element. So the goal was set as transformation rather than translation, and every decision was anchored to emotional resonance rather than literal accuracy.
The consequence
The Arabic was integrated into the original logotype rather than placed beside it. Every curve was tuned to hold informality inside a script that defaults to formality, so the mark stays recognisably the same restaurant.
What was built
- Arabic typographic elements integrated into the original logotype
- Letterforms tuned to keep the mark casual in a formal script
- The iconic style preserved so recognition survives the move
- A wider visual adaptation strategy across the brand system
- Collateral merging the California character with the rhythm of Riyadh
How it launched
The restaurant opened in Riyadh reading as a local place rather than an import, with the Los Angeles character intact.
(04) Impact
The work extended across MJS Investment’s portfolio, from Jon & Vinny’s to Luigi, Mr. Chow, Ruya and Zuma.
(05) Client
MJS Investment
