Renée’s | Downtown Unveils New Branding and Visual Identity, Marking the Brand’s “New Era”
GULFPORT, Miss. — An up-and-coming modern French fine dining restaurant, Renée’s Downtown, seated in the heart of downtown Gulfport at the corner of 27th avenue and 14th street, unveils upscale branding concept behind their recently coined tagline, “A New Era of Modern French Cuisine.”
The newly renovated façade windowscape displays a preview to an entertaining line-up of public relations campaigns showcasing the restaurant’s modernized branding under their new development. Included in the panoramic window display is a personal introduction letter from founding restaurateurs, Chef Renée and Amber Renée, who are in the process of developing the 7,600 sq. ft. space to host French fine dining, classical entertainment and a separate private event annex for booking weddings and a variety of social engagements.
Today, the modern French fine dining restaurant is launching Renée’s | Downtown’s brand refresh. Renée’s logo, color palette, typeface and more visual elements have been further developed, and they are giving you an exclusive glance behind the scenes and defining what it means for Renée’s, as a brand, and creating an “unforgettable guest experience.”
WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU
With its recent development underway, Renée’s Downtown embraced the opportunity to upscale all measures of the restaurant, including its brand. Starting from the ground up, Renée’s Downtown co-owners, Chef Renée and Amber Renée, worked diligently to visually articulate the cornerstone of their values simultaneously with the artistic direction of their recently coined tagline approach, “A New Era of Modern French Cuisine.”
“The purpose for our brand is to develop a sense of trust that is present within our food,” said Chef Renée, Co-owner and Executive Chef. “As a new era of modern French cuisine, our logo represents style, grace and elegance. Our new dishes will reflect and execute those same characteristics.”
Spearheading the branding refresh campaign is in-house Chief Creative Officer and Co-owner, Amber Renée. “In navigating the artistic direction of the brand, I am entrusted with developing a series of creative strategies to visually communicate our narrative with our guests,” said Amber. “It is crucial for us to have a direct relationship with our guests, and that means having our voice be heard.”
One of the creative strategies includes the newly renovated façade windowscape displaying a preview to an entertaining line-up of public relations campaigns showcasing the restaurant’s modernized branding under their new development. The recently launched campaign serves as a catalyst for introducing the modern French restaurant’s innovative concepts and affirming the cornerstone of their Christian values.
WE PRESENT…
What started as inked sketches encompassing a blank page by Chef Renée artistically emerged into an illustrative lettermark representing three foundational truths derived from their Christian faith: The Holy Trinity, Salvation and Resurrection in Jesus Christ.
The newly founded lettermark logo, was entrusted to the company’s co-owner and leading artist, Amber Renée, who executed a series of high-caliber logo designs to represent and personify Renée’s continuance to a lifetime of high standards and excellence both present in food and service. The impressive, yet straightforward, graphic design breaks away from the traditional framework and encompasses a clean and pristine modern appearance.
“We have never tried to fit inside of a mold. We have always stayed true to ourselves,” said Amber. “As artists, we strive to create products and an experience that is full of expression and emotion, and in the highest regard, true to who we are.” Amber also states that in order for a message to be effective, there must be one imperative — relevance. “To create something meaningful is one thing, but to walk in truth of your passion is honesty.”
With three distinguished vertical lines presenting a stately and formal tone, the significance lies deep within its symbolic meaning — Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, each representing one of the three vertical lines illustrating glory and strength as they stand firm and extend to infinite height and depth while remaining in unity as one.
At the center of focus stands the legendary “R” elevated in stature from its preceding classic typeface present in all of Renée’s logos. The names “Renée,” and “René”, a century-old family heirloom, in French, translates to “reborn” or “born again” which affirms both owner’s Christian beliefs. And, ultimately, encompassing all visual elements is a timeless circle embodying an eternal unity in one body with Christ.
“Without Christ, I can do nothing, but with Christ, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me,” said Chef Renée. “This Scripture is a daily reminder for me, every morning, that Christ gives me the strength to begin my day.”
TAKING CENTER STAGE
A FORMAL INTRODUCTION OF THE FULL CAST
Taking center stage of Renée’s | Downtown’s rebrand are a generous supply of new designs looking for the spotlight.
First, we are greeted with a lavishly modern logotype that is distinguished by an art technique known as “contour drawing.”
Daringly restricting the use of old-fashioned typeface, both co-owners ambitiously pursued the challenge of contriving a custom signature to spell out the French name in a ritzy yet formal manner. With full exclusivity to this custom-made freeform design, the team found it honorable to mirror the ambiance of first-class dining with personalized amenities only available to Renée’s | Downtown’s guests.
One continuous line that has no hault yet effortlessly and willingly forms.
“The freeform logotype was hand-drawn and required one uninterrupted flow of movement,” said Amber. “This flow of movement represents the effortless and graceful synchronization between our guests and our teams under the processes of greeting, creating, plating and service.”
The remaining line-up of stylish logo designs will be utilized in their various forms. Whether a decorated chef’s coat displaying the customary worn emblem or a guest carrying a designer bag of Renée’s | Downtown’s esteemed French macarons, the designs will be honored as badges of dedicated service and hospitality to Renée’s arriving and seated guests.
“We are here to present modern French cuisine that excites the palate and tastefully forms an artistic masterpiece sourced from pristine fine ingredients,” said Chef Renée. “We invite our communities and international guests to be our guests and come, taste, smell, see, hear and feel the new era of Renée’s Downtown we so graciously present.”
Renée’s | Downtown’s creative department has also taken their efforts to greater scale by integrating a social media campaign in tandem with its active branding refresh that is to be announced within months of the fine dining restaurant’s Grand Opening.
For upcoming news regarding Renée’s Grand Opening announcements, development updates, product releases, partnerships, useful Q&A’s, and upcoming conferences and events, learn what the Renée’s teams are up to by connecting on social media platforms Facebook and Instagram under their social media handle “reneesdowntown” and visit their intriguing newly developed web site at www.reneesdowntown.com.
