Kleptz Restaurant & Bar Logo Design Brief Seelyville (Terre Haute), Indiana 10/18/11 Note: This document is created to be easily legible and userfriendly on-screen, to reduce paper use and waste. Please think before you print.
A Brief History of Kleptz The Kleptz Restaurant & Bar today is a casual dining and drinking establishment. The menu steers ‘one star up’ from a typical pizza/burgers/wings/diner kind of place, instead focusing on quality, fresh, healthy fullservice dining experiences. It’s a place you can come when you don’t feel like cooking but want a nice wellrounded meal, and great libations to accompany it. Kleptz’s history dates back to the early 1800s pioneer days when Indiana was first settled. The property was part of the Land Grant program, and was passed through generations of the original settler family until it was acquired by the Modisetts in 1902. The Modisetts cleared away the old and built the structure that still stands today, operating a frontier trading post until selling to Frank & Anna Kleptz in 1914. The Kleptz’s operated a thriving grocery and tavern to serve a growing and more modern community. When Prohibition was enacted, Frank officially closed the tavern part of Kleptz, but his location right on the Historical National Road (now U.S. 40) was an easy stopping point for gentlemen traveling West on business. “Supplies” were available for a man’s personal traveling necessity, as well as larger quantities for profitable resale to customers in Illinois and beyond, and a complimentary nip or two for goodwill. The secret, hidden basements in which Frank operated a notable liquor distribution depot are still in use today – albeit for more legal purposes. Frank & Anna’s three daughters carried on the tradition and operated the Kleptz Restaurant & Tavern as long as they were able, nearly their entire lives. In 1995 it was sold to a local restaurateur couple who closed it for an exhaustive and priceless six month renovation and restoration, then reopened its full 15,000 sq ft to operate as a restaurant, bar, and meeting place until three weeks ago when it was sold to the current owners, your clients. We will continue the traditions of serving our local community and friends, while updating the offerings for a new generation. We believe it is critical to build a robust brand for Kleptz in order to keep its history and purpose in the community alive in the hearts and minds of generations to come. Your logo design should be the foundation of an enduring Kleptz brand identity.
The Kleptz Patron •
Kleptz is located in Seelyville, Indiana, a very small (one stop light) town. Everyone knows everyone here. – – –
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Our community and our customer base is definitively middle class; a slice of America if you will. They are predominantly locals who are originally from here, and are currently or will raise their own families here. The economic base is largely blue collar, however our restaurant draws everyone from the shift worker to the plant foreman to the well-off businessperson. Psychologically, our customers are tradition-seekers. In fact, in the short time since purchasing Kleptz countless people have asked to be sure we plan to “not make any major changes” which is their way of saying: preserve the history and the traditional role Kleptz plays in the community. The main business right now is full-service dinner. We plan to grow the business through: – –
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However, Kleptz is located on U.S. Highway 40, the main East-West road in the area. 50,000+ cars per day pass directly by our location (on the corner of the intersection with the one stop light). We draw many customers from Brazil, Indiana (approx 10,000 ppl) about 5 miles away – we are the only ‘nice sitdown place’ for dinner near them. We also draw extensively from Terre Haute, Indiana (approx 100,000+ metro) about 8 miles away. For these customers, we are a refreshing break from the chain restaurants that dominate their town.
Adding lunch – which was popular with teachers, office workers and businesspeople for many years Enhance the bar – by this we mean focus on it, unlike the prior owners. We will offer a broad selection of great spirits, an extensive wine list, many microbrews, and knowledgeable staff to sell and serve these. As dinner winds down, the atmosphere will become more bar-like and we will encourage patrons to join us for after-dinner libations, and a new crowd for just a good old night out drinking. Community meeting space, banquets, catering, etc. – we have the facilities and space to serve the community here or anywhere they gather. We will be the go-to source for any kind of social event.
The logo we choose should be able to brand any and all of these lines of business. As well, we may later create sub-brands for particular rooms/theme nights/menus and we will likely hire or consider the winning core logo designer to help us build out these sub-brand logos.
The following are some archival pictures hanging around the establishment, with whatever detail we know about them.
This is an original drawn map of Terre Haute from 1880. Kleptz is located just beyond the horizon on the National Road, which is the main road you see in the center of the picture.
A view of the interior of the main bar/dining room from decades ago.
The Modisett General Store. This was before it was Kleptz and before automobiles.
We believe this is two of the Kleptz daughters with their father Frank Kleptz, a regular customer and the barkeep.
A collection of menus from through the years.
This is a picture of the neon sign that hung facing Highway 40 for years and years, basically since these kinds of signs were invented. It is in storage now for preservation. It is a very recognizable icon in the community and people have even asked if we are going to put this sign up again.
I massaged the previous picture a bit to look antiqued/sepiatoned, and we are currently using this as a ghosted background on our menus, etc until we get a new logo made. This image may still appear in various places as a secondary brand icon.
This is the sign that hangs on the building currently. We’re not excited about it, but it’s there.
Final Thoughts • Aesthetics and Styles:
– Kleptz is fundamentally a place. This is why the antique neon roadsign is an icon to people today. Our new logo needs to be aware of place. – Kleptz is also an experience. Friendly, familiar faces. A warm and inviting atmosphere. Food like you would cook for a nice meal at home. Drinks better than you would probably be able to prepare at home. Good times, highly social, a place where you’ll be happy to be a regular. – And, Kleptz is an institution. It’s part of the local history and color. People “remember when….” about Kleptz. It represents a proud history and tradition that makes people feel part of the community.
• Design Mandatories:
– The logo must be versatile. It will be our core logo that is used on everything from menus to business cards to napkins to signs to webpages, and on and on. It must work in all 2D static media. – The logo must be extendable. By this, we mean it should be able to read “Kleptz” as a standalone icon, but also we should be able to apply it to various other things: • Kleptz Carryout, Kleptz Tavern, Kleptz Restaurant & Bar, Kleptz Catering, Kleptz Events Production, Kleptz Banquet Hall • Etc
– The logo must convey a sense of history and tradition, and the establishment’s role in the community’s heritage.
Questions? • Please feel free to email us with questions or thoughts: –
[email protected] • We will respond as quickly as possible.