The Monens originally tasked our team with creating a new look and feel for the Taco Mamacita brand that bridged where they had been with where they were going. The creative team generated a variety of designs that highlighted various aspects of the Taco Mama personality. The winning design style for the logo was the one that seemed to fit best with the clean aesthetic of the building and interior designs. It was also based on the original marquee sign lettering still adorns the first location.

From there the creative team began to build out graphics for the restaurant space. After reviewing the clean and minimal design results, the Monens asked if our team could inject a little more of the gritty humor and “rock’n’roll aesthetic” that the original store had. The team was happy to oblige — and under the guidance of Art Director Mark Walter, the final results effectively captured that “Taco Mama” spirit.

Finally, to bring the vision of the graphics to life in the space, Taylor Monen asked the talented sign painters of I Saw the Sign in Nashville to paint all the designs in the restaurant, exterior and interior. Mark Walter provided design direction for the most prominent design elements, but the allowed for I Saw the Sign to showcase their immense talents with places for original touches on type, flourishes and ornamentation. Not to be outdone, Mark added his own personal touch to the six poster designs with handpainted elements, gold foil and cut paper additions.

The result is a warm, charmingly imperfect, but thoroughly vibrant human touch that is Taco Mamacita.