Brand & Strategy
2020 - Ongoing
Building a brand
Juul always had an entrepreneur mindset. Our collaboration began with his one-man catering service, Juul Kookt. When he shared his idea of starting a pizza service in Venlo, I was immediately on board. I already knew we worked well together, and the challenge of crafting a 360-degree strategy for a friend was too good to pass up.
Before diving into the design, I wanted to fully understand his vision. We held in-depth conversations to uncover the essence of what he wanted to create. Simplicity became the core of both the concept and the product. After countless YouTube tutorials and securing a small space and a professional pizza oven, Nena was born.
My initial sketches reflected these values, forming the foundation of Nena’s visual identity. When a concept feels right, I prefer to keep it clean and versatile. This leaves room to experiment and adapt while staying true to the core idea.
Sometimes, early sketches just work — and this was one of those times.
Made in Nederland, Inspired by Napels.
Juul making his first Nena pizza ever.
Photoshoot
Together with Evita Copier, we visited Nena’s first location to document the start of something bold. The goal was to subtly capture Juul’s bravery while highlighting the craft and quality. Juul’s nephews even stopped by during the shoot, bringing a natural, human element to the images.
The takeaway service was an instant hit. The plan to open a restaurant started to take shape, and by the end of the year, Nena moved into a new, much larger venue.
By combining logo, type and color, I applied the brand in a versatile way that was not too overwhelming when you entered the venue.
The branded pizza box — simple but powerful — served as a functional business card, spreading the brand far and wide.
Applying the brand
Transitioning from a dark kitchen to a vibrant 80+ seat restaurant was a big leap, but the brand identity we had developed was flexible enough to evolve seamlessly across channels. The logo in combination with the yellow color had already made Nena stand out in Venlo, so our focus shifted to leveraging that recognizability without overdoing it.
Much of the work I did remotely from Amsterdam, but balancing the various brand assets required being on-site, especially as the space came together. The key was to create a visual presence that felt cohesive yet not overwhelming when guests entered the restaurant.
The people
If there’s one thing Juul excels at even more than business, it’s connecting with people. In a short time, he built a loyal team that continues to work at Nena to this day. The first line of merchandise, worn proudly by the staff both in and out of work, quickly became a recognizable part of the city’s landscape.
Elevating the brand
After four years, the culture inspired us to elevate the brand and introduce a new phase. The craft and the idea of making your hands dirty, did not fit the clean appeal anymore. We still want to communicate the same quality, but also show the sweat, blood and tears that goes into it. Streetfood over (fine) dining - It can be a bit more rough, with less staged imagery.
My first step was to review the current typeface. Noah is a very round and friendly font, but it operates solo, and it’s not very easy to work with - especially for print.
I introduced two new fonts. A serif one, representing street scene in Napels, and a mono-space font - ideal for print, because all characters use exactly the same space. The combination looks great, it’s functional and it feels more griddy.
Next up was to review the colour palette. The yellow color proven to be effective and people associate it with Nena. But, having only one primary colour is quite limiting when trying to develop a new personality of the brand.
I introduced two new complementary colours that are lined up to support the yellow colour. It gives way more flexibility when applying the brand. One thing to be careful with when introducing new colours, is that you don’t lose the recognisability that we build over time.
Finally, in addition to the well known logo, I introduced hands. The inspiration comes two folded:
Preparing, cooking, serving - All work at Nena is done by hand.
I know it’s a stereotype (sorry for that), but the expressive hand gestures from Italian people, inspired me as well.
With all the updates in place, I'm applying them step by step.
