Octo π needs an octopus illustration to draw the masses

Wood Fire Pizza and Wine Bar

レストラン・飲食店

We are a hip and funky boutique Neapolitan pizzeria and casual wine bar in a tiny university town full of academics, hipsters, millennials, and retirees. The only wood fire oven in the region.… Our other endeavors have had a strong reputation for culinary excellence. We have an octopus/cthulu/Lovecraftian (mostly octopus) theme. Much of our current market is transient--either second-home, seasonal residents, or visitors to the university (students, parents, guest speakers and performers). We would like to broaden our base to include more permanent residents in other areas of the county.

I have an image in mind of a funky, twisty octopus curling around the Octo π name. I like Mike Mignola’s work and graffiti art. Edgy. Progressive. I want something that lends itself well to multiple… colors (dark blues, violets, and black) for t-shirts and stickers, but also has a distinct line art element for vinyl transfers and window signs. While our food and wine are the focus of the business, for the logo it's more important to me to see the octopus angle developed for brand recognition and merchandising opportunities. For the website, however, the fun octopus angle shares a headline with our passion for unique artisan pizza and wine. The wood fire oven is the only one of its kind in the area, and our pies are lovingly crafted. There is an H.P. Lovecraft slant to our interior decorations, and that Victorian, vaguely steam-punk ethos is appealing, but I am open to any angles. None of the logos or websites I had to choose from on 99designs really jumped out at me, so please don't be a slave to my choices there. I really like the style of the art in the first, tentacle pic above best, but I think I'd like to see the whole octopus in the logo as mentioned above. Tentacles are great for the website.

Our restaurant decor borrows inspiration from HP Lovecraft and the Kraken mythos but less serious and more fun. Casual, accessible, but also a little more elegant than the average pizza… joint. Our interior colors are blue, purple, and dark grey. I am probably looking for more detailed line art rather than something highly stylized. I fantasize about a dark and brooding website (and logo) in the style of Mike Mignola's original Hellboy comics, but with some silliness thrown in. I also like spray-paint graffiti art. We're complicated and interesting people doing exciting things and having a blast. The website should reflect that.