Mottola Grocery – Evoking a Sense of History and Modernity

As of Spring of 2020, you will find Mottola Grocery on the main floor of Winnipeg’s Hargrave Street Market – an exciting new urban market concept executed by restauranteur and managing partner of Academy Hospitality, Bobby Mottola. Expect a chef-centred, high-end Italian grocery shop – offering curated grocery and specialty items, prepared foods, fresh produce, specialty cheeses, meats and pantry staples. The market is deeply rooted in tradition – through an elevated customer service and shopping experience – and modernity – proving to be a supportive gathering place to further activate True North Square and provide a much-needed marketplace experience for the downtown community.

An Italian Marketplace Brand Identity for Mottola Grocery 

Working within a very tight timeline, the studio was challenged to develop a brand identity that would have a significant presence at the Hargrave Street Market – at street level. The decision to utilize a serif font for the word mark works to infuse a new brand with history, longevity, and contemporary appeal. The treatment of the font styling evokes weight and balance. We emphasized the word “Grocery” to give clarity to it’s pragmatic purpose, with a more elegant weight given to the family name. Through significant and even kerning, and slight variation in font weight across both words, we were able to achieve a classic brand identity that is ultimately minimal and cohesive.