Vila 953 is a traditional restaurant with a contemporary approach located in a very particular Portuguese town, Vila do Conde. With a mission to pay homage to national gastronomy and the art of hospitality, the Vila 953 brand proudly incorporates strong traces of the past in an elegant visual aesthetic, reflecting the values of originality, quality and charisma.

We developed an immersing research process for this branding project as we dug through one of the oldest historic episodes at the genesis of our own country’s foundation and discovered three very charismatic characters that set the perfect narrative to ground this brand’s visual identity.

The brand proudly incorporates strong traces of the past in its logo through the use of a classically inspired ambigram and the illustrations of three characters resembling medieval wax seals. Special attention to the logotype, we designed two custom ligatures between “V”/”I” and “L”/”A” that together form the word “VILA” and display a symmetrical relationship: when inverted through a 180º rotation the word maintains exactly the same reading. Additionally, as we carefully looked into details, the crossbar in the “A” letter got its inspiration from the organic forms found in the 953 AD manuscript.

The colour palette conveys a sophisticated yet warm mood that adds to the elegant visual aesthetic, reflecting originality, quality, and charisma. In the end, this branding project resulted in an elegant combination of tradition and contemporaneity, reflecting a modern and dynamic business vision.