The Clumsy Interloper

The colors were always going to be Cubbie blue and red. As a child these colors danced and crackled against the windswept green ivy walls in the most pleasing way. Make no mistake, a crisp, clean Cubs hat belongs on a pedestal surrounded by velvet rope in a stately museum room with vaulted ceilings. Ultimately my Chicago inspired enterprise needed this nostalgic palette to make the logo feel authentic.

The basis for the image was a more difficult task. Much like “Hawk City”, I wanted something that subtly conveyed Chicago. During my research I made a catalog of non-chain Chicago style deep dish restaurants outside of the Chicagoland area. Many had the Chicago skyline, the Chicago flag or a large mustachio Italian man backlit by epic cheese pulls. These are all perfectly reasonable logos for a pizzeria in Plano, Texas or Bend, Oregon looking to announce loudly, “WE SERVE CHICAGO DEEP DISH PIZZA”. I wanted to stand out in a different, more nuanced way. This ultimately led to the EL train rumbling overhead and everything snapped into focus. Now, there isn’t a image of a pizza, a silhouette of the Sears Tower or the word “Chicago” anywhere in my logo. Perhaps folks might think I’m selling trains at first glance, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. I decided to add the tagline “Pie and Joy from Illinois” to mirror the Chicago Bears fight song lyrics “Pride and Joy of Illinois” as a helpful breadcrumb.

The artwork was created by Jesse Bellavance at Bellavance Ink. If you’ve been to a farmer’s market in Charlottesville you have seen him or his wife Wendy selling stickers, cards, books and mugs with instantly recognizable local landmarks. His work is injected with humor and whimsy and I knew his style would capture the ethos of Hawk City Pizza. I provided an inspiration image and some general notes and Jesse did the rest. He suggested the lithograph style which was the perfect call. I love everything about it, the perspective, the coloring, the evocative imagery. I’m beyond excited to now have a rendering for my company logo. Ladies and gentlemen, now announcing my train-hawk-Illinois something-or-other*!

*I sell pizzas.