MANANA restaurant | Almaty, Kazakhstan

ABOUT
Type: Restaurant
Location: Almaty, Kazakhstan
Completed in 2022

Design Team: MMZ project
Branding Team: Guides agency
Contact: hey.guides.agency@gmail.com
How do we imagine Georgia?

Probably soulful, sun-drenched, full of history and centuries-old traditions of hospitality. A country rich in sincere people, smiling, charming and open to its guests.
This is exactly the story of Georgia from MANANA restaurant, the country which exists through the legends, but also young and modern for everyone who wants to touch it.

MANANA restaurant is part of the SUN group restaurant holding company from Kazakhstan. We had to do a complete rebranding of the identity, as it was decided to update the concept and modernize the interior.
The main issue for us was the continued use of the brand character, Manana the sheep, which had been used before and limited the use of the iconic image in various media. It was decided not to leave the image of the sheep in the logo, but to leave it in the context of the concept as an identification with Georgian hospitality. Instead, the logo received a graphic symbol, which was obtained by integrating traditional ornaments with the Georgian flag.
For the main version of the logo, fonts were chosen, the main one being Buncher Georgia, a vintage display font inspired by the art of ancient decor and based on it, a Cyrillic version of the font was developed, for the possibility of use on various media and in social networks.
Montseratt, a sans serif geometric font designed by Argentine graphic designer Julieta Ulanowski and released in 2011, was chosen as the font pairing. It was inspired by the posters, signs and painted windows of the first half of the twentieth century seen in the historic district of Montserrat in Buenos Aires.
The main idea of the branding renovation was to combine the interior solutions of the restaurant with its identity and digital resources.
In this way we got a more holistic image of the restaurant, which does not resonate separately for the consumer.

RESULT
MANANA restaurant is a premium-casual establishment with traditional Georgian cuisine. Such restaurants blur the boundaries between fine and casual food, creating "casual and sophisticated" food, usually for millennials. Here the menu combines gastronomic fusion, Georgian traditions and flavors with European standards and cooking techniques.
The peculiarity is friendly, high quality service and openness to people: their diverse desires, needs and even extraordinary whims.
Here every guest is a friend to whom you do not want to forbid or say no. After all, the guests here are real and happy - such as they dream to feel on a free weekend, when they are not burdened by problems and can just enjoy the moment.

Guides agency: 
Creative director: Demi Fomchenkoff
Designer: Stas Kusto
Copywriter: Oleh Dikal
2022
MANANA restaurant | Almaty, Kazakhstan
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