The Pig Diner
Art Direction/Environmental Design
Overview
If you’re craving Grandma’s biscuits and gravy, then this is the next best thing. During some time in 1931 in the city of Abilene, Texas, a couple of dairy workers looked at each other and had the same idea: We could use a good place to eat without having to travel miles up the road. They hadn’t anticipated that what started as a small pork sandwich stand, would turn into what is now the oldest standing restaurant in Abilene.
The hometown favorite, currently known as “Dixie Pig”, has been serving Texas-style comfort food for over 80 years. Although commonly praised for their breakfast menu, they also serve a mean chicken fried steak during their lunch hours. Abilene was just dirt and a whole lot of nothin’ when the establishment was built. Since then, the business itself has remained relatively untouched— although, you might have caught them giving themselves a fresh paint job every now and then if you’ve lived in the city long enough.
Approach
Normally, changing the name of a decades-old business is the last decision you want to make, but in this case, it was the first. The challenge in rebranding the Dixie Pig restaurant to The Pig Diner lies in delicately preserving the long-standing business while addressing the opportunity for impact and improvement. Dropping the term Dixie (a word referring to the Southern states which formerly made up the Confederacy) was a decision meant to show that The Pig evolves with its community and whose confidence in their business is reliant on their inescapable Texan charm, and not on a singular word.
The transformation extended beyond a name change with the intention of updating the space using rustic, Western aesthetics and Southern twang, while leaving the most beloved parts of the diner in tact, including the cylindrical structure of the entrance and the salmon colored wall.
Logotype Color Combinations
Schematic Sketches
Textures & Materials
Current Restaurant
