Thursday, February 11, 2010

Pita Joe and Pick-a-Pita




Pr*tty
Not something I would design, but a fun and quirky identity nonetheless. Their website is pretty good too.

Do you think the Joe character qualifies as suicide food?

Sh*tty
I know I’m not supposed to pick on the little guys. But Pita Joe is a little guy and he has his sh*t together. So wtf Pick-a-Pita? I hear your food is good, so stop looking like a restaurant that serves ground-up cigarette butts stuffed into discarded Capri Sun pouches.

4 comments:

  1. ohhh, you're right, that bottom one is simply horrible.

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  2. I think you're totally wrong about this.

    If I saw the first one I'd be like "oh, crappy chain." Even if it wasn't a chain. It's basically a mediocre corporate-looking logo.

    If I saw the second one my thought is "local place that can't afford a graphic designer so they got their nephew who can use photoshop to do their sign." I might consider eating there.

    Basically, in a sea of corporate logos, Joe is both anonymous and mediocre. It cannot win against real chains. Pick-a-pita, for better or worse, stands out as individualistic and undesigned. It has the potential to win against corporate branding by not even playing the game

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  3. Ben, while I appreciate your perspective, I have to once again take issue with anyone who believes shitty design is a way to create appeal.

    The notion that clean design = "corporate" is really just your opinion, and has more to do with your bias against corporations than any actual fact. Why shouldn't small businesses have a clean, professional look too?

    Beyond that, the notion that Mom & Pop operations are somehow inherently better is fairly naive. There's plenty of shitty Mom & Pop shops in the world. And it's not unfair of me to think that businesses who care not for creating a good image for themselves might also care not for providing a good service or product.

    All that said, I'll explain (as I did in any earlier comment tread) that the Sh*tty example does not have to look like the Pr*tty example to be better. It simply has to employ thoughtfulness, care, and sound design principles to better express their own unique position.

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  4. I've been to Pita Joe! Oh wow, that was my first meal on my first day all alone in the city a few months back...nice design, so-so pita. Can't have it all I guess...

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