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Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 01 logo

Hot Chi Visual Identity

Client
Hot Chi
Community
Restaurant
Services
Branding
Naming
Print
Illustration
Packaging
Awards
STA 100 2021
Credits

Nick Adam
Concept, Design Direction, Strategy, Design

Avery Branen
Design, Illustration

Hot Chi is a Chicago-style, Nashville-inspired, hip-hop-loving, hot chicken and ice cream restaurant In Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood. Life-long South-siders, restaurateurs and family Amer, Mutaz, and Kinan have long had a passion to feed communities. When Chatham (a neighborhood considered to be a food desert) lost what was widely considered the best fried chicken franchise in Chicago, the brothers decided to step up.

Span named the restaurant Hot Chi, a play on their specialty, hot chicken, while at the same time embracing Chicago’s nick-name Chi-Town. Hot Chi is simple, memorable, and screams Chicago-style Hot Chicken. Made up of two 3-letter words, the name itself is intentionally embedded with a graphic strategy making the two terms to perfectly stack.

Span drew the custom lettering of the Hot Chi logo to embrace the aesthetics of homestyle cooking and the urban landscape with sign-painter lettering styles. Each letter was drawn with equal widths centering the ‘O’ in the word ‘Hot’ and igniting it with an iconic flame treatment. Our visual approach transformed the typographic to iconographic. We created a mascot to emphasize a fun and approachable personality. The mascot is often seen eating an ice cream cone, a direct rendering of the restaurant’s offerings — Chicken and Cones.

Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 02 logorational

Span drew the custom Hot Chi lettering allowing the letters to stack and the flame to center

Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 08 To Go Bags
Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 04 Hot Sign Hat Mask
Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 03 logo

The classic Letraset typeface Frankfurter offers a familiar fast-casual feel, while the dayglo hi-vis colors communicate spice

Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 05 Signature Logo

Span designed a secondary signature logotype for artful moments

Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 05 Op Art

Classic homestyle, white and red checker patterns turn up the heat with inspiration from Bridget Riley’s op-art

Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 07 Apron
Hot Chi Chicago Hot Chicken Branding Graphic Design 09 Shirts Bag Box