Italian food is great, but it comes at a price. Why is it that something so good can, at the same time, be bad? This was a question posed to us by Local businessman Gary Kyriacou, when he approached us to help conceptualise a new restaurant he wanted to open.

The brand would feature Italian food and would be situated in the heart of Sandton, Johannesburg’s financial district. We were briefed to design and curate the entire brand experience. This included the name, tone and personality of the brand as well as its visual expression that focused on brand collateral and the interior space.

The website needed to entice the viewer and emphasise the duality inherent in the brand.

For the Saint website, we needed to highlight the brand story in an engaging way. The struggle between good and bad within us all could be dramatised successfully in the digital realm.

The website moves between the two states. It is a tug of war between discipline and indulgence.

The brand identity represents how both sides of our nature can live together as one, to create a more fulfilled and satisfied whole. Classicism is subverted in a variety of ways to bring this to life.

Visually we have done this in three ways:

1. Traditional paintings are infused with subversive subject matter.

2. Overt defacement of imagery with graffiti.

3. Subtle symbolism in imagery.

The logo embraces an inspired act of vandalism to emphasise the sin in Saint. The dualities found in the seven sins and virtues are exquisitely portrayed in playful food photography. The website and social media executions serve as great vehicles to tell the story of Saint. Traditionally rendered illustrations feature in the space as tapestries and projections. The space also features a sculpted bar area that pays cheeky homage to our inner struggles.

Since opening in 2018 the restaurant has been fully booked. The owners are seeing a very quick return of investment. The strength of the brand personality and tone has allowed Saint to quickly become part of Johannesburg's must go experiences.