Nutters Restaurant

If you live in the northwest of England then there is arguably no finer dining experience to be had. Rochdale based Nutters Restaurant is an award winning restaurant owned by multi-award winning TV chef Andrew Nutter, set in the glorious Wolstenholme Hall built in 1850 and surrounded by 6 and a half acres of woodland and gardens.

Paul, our Creative Director, has know Andrew for a number of years and has done several commercial photography jobs for them.

When Louise at Nutters called the studio asking if Paul could do some photography for their forthcoming wedding brochure, and whilst he was happy to oblige, the question was put to Louise at Nutters if we could help with the project. One brief meeting later and the wider brand development project was a goer and we were thrilled to be asked to help Nutters Restaurant expand their brand identity with a professionally produced brochure and website, specifically, to bring some more design consistency to the brand and align their brand presentation with the same level of professionalism and creativity as the food they serve.

The challenge remained that aside from the recognisable N logo Andrew had used for years, there was no tangible brand toolkit to work with. In this case, being asked to design a brochure and evolve the brand identity like this is a gift. With so much visual reference available to help with the design and Andrew’s love of everything British, the scene was set.

Several components make up the evolved brand identity, and in turn, the brochure and website.

The beautifully crafted British Johnston Typeface (made famous by its use on the London Underground) make up the main headline typography. This font choice was paired with Minion.

The main colours also reflect the traditional colours used in design from the period that Johnston was designed in, using the red of the Union flag and also a light cream colour. We then created some gorgeously detailed line art to reflect the architectural nuances of the venue and we created a simple grid system that helped pace the flow of the content and break the information up as you flick the pages of the brochure. This was a deliberate approach that enabled us to also create a simple user experience for the website. Designing a system that makes the menus behave or look like a menu in the restaurant was especially important – a key issue customers had previously had on the old website.

We created a matching set of icons to continue to brand style evolvement and consistency.

The photography was a collection of a photoshoot shot during the summer and a some recent wedding photography by willing couples (and of course their photographers) who very kindly supplied the images.

The final piece to the jigsaw, was a custom envelope. The design is a union flag, that wraps around the front and back, and anyone who requests a brochure from the website will have that landing on their doormat. The final brochure was 245mm square, printed by Galloways Print in 4 colour process lithographic print and featured a lovely soft touch laminate cover.

The restaurant are delighted again and we are looking forward to continue to support Andrew and the team at Nutters as they come into their 29th year of business.
Damien, the general manager said, “Think Design provided us with ideas and inspiration to design, create and evolve our brand identity, enabling the end result of a high class website that we are extremely happy with. Paul and his team where constantly on hand to design, review and change throughout. Built within an initial budget set and completed within expected time scales. Myself and Nutters Restaurant for whom would certainly recommend Think to the highest standards possible.”

The website has doubled its search impressions and tripled its traffic, averaging a click through rate of 17% in the past 12 months.