Final project for graphic design studio - a comprehensive compilation of brainstorming, strategy, visual ideation and creation of a new logo and brand for Pizza Hut.

1. PROCESS
BOOK
PizzaHutRebrandNATALIE SINGLETON

2. TABLEOFCONTENTS Introduction 2
Objectives 3
Research 4
Brainstorming 5
Ideation 6
Refinement 7
Refinement II 8
Typography 9
Color Theory 10
Packaging 11
Final Logo Design 12
Final Packaging 13
Outcome 14

3. Introduction
WHY PIZZA HUT?
When most people think of
Pizza Hut pizza, they think of an
outdated, sit-down pizza spot
with the infamous “red roof.”
Founded in 1958, Pizza Hut
has been one of the top dogs
of the pizza industry, and in
terms of quick service restaurants
(QSRs) in general. But, 50+ years
later, and they’ve begun slipping.
WHY CHANGE NOW?
Because not much has. Pizza
Hut has attempted rebranding
itself in the past, focused on the
“Flavor of Now”... a bunch of
pizzas focused on wild flavor
combinations, attempting to
appeal to the millenial crowd.
WHAT DO THEY
HAVE TO OFFER?
In recent decades, Pizza Hut
has begun offering more than
just pizza:
• Classic pizzas
• “Skinny” pizzas
• Flavor of Now pizzas
• Tuscani pasta bakes
• WingStreet chicken
wings and fries
• “Flavorstick” bread
sticks and cheesesticks
• Brownies, cookies and
cinnamon stick desserts
Pizza Hut offers delivery and
sit down experiences as well,
but overall suffers from a lack
of knowing what they want to
be, but in the same vein, having
too much to offer.
SO... HOW DO WE CREATE A
FOLLOWING FOR PIZZA HUT?

4. Objectives
1 KNOW WHAT PIZZA HUT WANTS TO BE
2 CREATE A FOLLOWING
Give consumers a reason to switch to Pizza Hut
3 IMPROVE BRAND RECOGNITION
Differentiate from its competitors, position
itself above & away from typical QSRs
4 CREATE VALUE PROPOSITIONS
market itself so that consumers are willing to
pay full price for a pizza
5 NEW LOGO & PACKAGING
We found that our primary problem with Pizza Hut was that
they seemed indifferent. With a cluster of a menu and an
overwhelmingly mediocre attempt at rebranding, our main
objective with this job was to narrow down Pizza Hut’s
target audience. Finding a niche in a massive quick service
market would be huge, and Pizza Hut needs to take some
tips from competitors like Papa Johns and Domino’s, who
have sucessfully targeted sports fans and millenials.
We used these observations of Pizza Hut’s positioning
(or lack therof) to come up with 5 main objectives:

5. Research
COMPETITOR BRANDING
Most pizza chain QSRs promise the
same thing- price and taste- both of
which should be givens. Pizza Hut
needs to get out of the “coupon
rut” associated with cheap pizza.
While competitors like Domino’s
and Papa Johns do the same, the
former has rebranded to focus on
delivery and a “cool” new millenial
market, while the latter (Papa Johns)
has grown by sponsorships with the
NFL and NHL.
DIFFERENTIATION?
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Scanned by CamScanner

6. Brainstorming
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A lot of my brainstorming
involved just writing
everything down- notes
from research, word maps,
lists of anything and
everything I could think
of that related to our idea
of using family time and
togetherness as a table
stake.

7. Ideation
Our initial
ideas were
focused more
on family and
less about
playing with
time. We
played a lot
with the idea of
still using the
classic roof in a
logo, but it felt
too safe and a
little punny.
I know I was
also still stuck
on how to
show things
less literally...
there’s a lot of
pizza in our first
sketches.Scanned by CamScanner

8. Refinement
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SKETCH ROUND 2 FINAL SKETCHES
After meeting and discussing where we wanted to go with the theme
of togetherness, we decided we really wanted to focus on family and
spending priceless family time together... A lot of our sketches so far
had been very literal so our primary challenge became how to draw a
logo that explained our theme but wasn’t too literal.

9. Refinement II
For my digital roughs, I wanted to build on some of the sketches we thought
were stronger. We really liked the idea of the hourglass as an abstract symbol
for time & we loved that it could be literally built into the logo lockup as one
of the Zs in Pizza Hut. I played with various alignments for the logotype and
slogan, as well as minor color additions to begin looking at color theory. I also
switched the order of our slogan here, putting “We make the pizza” first, as I
felt like it was more welcoming, like taking a burden off of a family, as opposed
to aggressively demanding they make time.

10. Typography
PIZZAHUT
PizzaHUT
pizzaHUT
pizzaHUT
PIZZAHUT
PIZZAHUT
PIZZAHUT
PIZZAHUT
Make Time. Make Time. Make Time.
pizzaHUT
Make Time.
To continue with the modern theme of our logo sketches, I knew
I wanted to pair it in a lockup with a very clean, contemporary
typeface that would be miles away from Pizza Hut’s previous
handwritten-serif stylized type. I played with pairing more heavily
weighted contemporary fonts with thinner fonts for the logotype,
and pulling them together with serifed typefaces for the slogan.
We decided on CWG Sans & Helvetica Neue for the logotype.

11. Color Theory
ORIGINAL PALETTE
Pizza Hut’s original logo colors, even
the ones used in their most recent
rebranding feel lost in the mix.
Using primary colors is bold, but
feels too similar to their competitors’
schemes. The simplicity of the newer
logo’s palette is not bad, but lacks
any pop of an accent and feels flat.
NEW PALETTE
We chose to play with various shades
of red as the primary color in the new
logo. We felt that red conveyed a
sense of warmth, which tied into our
theme of family time and love and
togetherness. We knew black was also
necessary for type in any color palette,
and thought that a cool slate grey
would be a nice balancing accent.

12. Packaging
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From the beginning, we knew we wanted our box to serve as a tool to allow families to
interact and do something fun while eating Pizza Hut pizza... inspired by the fun hand-drawn
feel of Domino’s boxes, we all began looking at games and questions and other interactive
ways we could design a box that not only was aesthetically pleasing, but would make families
feel like they made use of dinner time well, as opposed to having the same conversation--
or none at all, every night.

13. Final Logo
We make the pizza. You make the time.
We make the pizza. You make the time.
We selected this design as our final logo, since it envelops every aspect
of our branding theory. It feels modern and contemporary. The slogan
appeals to the busy American family, by taking a load off, while allowing
for priceless family time. The logomark visually represents this idea of
time, while still utilizing the triangular pizza shape in an abstract way.

14. Final Packaging

15. Outcome
I think overall, I am very happy with our final logo and packaging
design for Pizza Hut. I think it’s unique that as a group, we really
found our niche early and fought for our idea, trying to develop it
time and time again. I think we could always do more, though,
and if we had all contributed a bit more effort and everyone
consistently came with sketches and work done, I think we could’ve
blown it away. But for now, I really like the direction we have
Pizza Hut heading. The idea of family time and family dinners
together has definitely lost its touch over the years, and while
our theory may feel out of touch or a little lame compared to the
“cool” and aggressively hip branding trends out there, taking a
step back and trying to make spending time with your family cool
again is really different from everything out there.