JHB

Website design and development · Experiences

Three ways into Italy, from Johannesburg

A South African company selling Italian language classes, cooking workshops and tours through Italy. The mark is a Venetian gondola and the founding year in Roman numerals.

Client
Officine Italia
Year
2017
Scope
Brand identity, Web design, Web build
The Officine Italia mark centred on white: a Venetian gondola and gondolier above the wordmark and MMXVII.
The mark, and the boat it is built on.

(Overview)Speak, cook, travel. Three doors into one country, and the homepage opens all three at once rather than asking which kind of customer you are.

(The brief)Officine Italia sells Italian language classes, cooking workshops and travel, from Johannesburg. Three offers with almost nothing in common except the country behind them, and a customer who might book any one of them. The site had to make three businesses read as one.

Colour

Type

Aa set in Grandesa Handrawn.Grandesa Handrawn Primary
Aa set in Venice Serif.Venice Serif Secondary

A display serif for the name, a text serif under it, and a handwritten line for the promise.

The Officine Italia gondola mark on its own: a gondolier poling a gondola, in black silhouette above its broken reflection.
The gondola, alone
The Officine Italia site open on a phone in an aeroplane seat, the Speak and Cook sections showing.
The site, on the way there
The Popular Tours screen: nine bespoke trips across Sardinia, Tuscany, Puglia and Umbria.
Popular tours, by region
The rooftops and domes of Rome at golden hour, one of the seven regions the site sells.
Rome, at golden hour
The Officine Italia homepage open on a laptop, the Grand Canal behind the words Speak, Cook, Travel.
The site, as it shipped.

(The system)One mark has to sit on a language class, a cooking workshop and a tour of Italy without leaning toward any of them. A gondola does that.

(What shipped)Cook opens into the cooking schools, Travel into seven regions of Italy. Each of the three carries its own depth, and a booking never leaves the page it started on.

Website

Home. Speak, Cook, Travel over the Grand Canal.
About. We Offer You Italy, and how the company started.
Speak. Courses with Istituto Italiano di Cultura and Dante Alighieri.
Cook. Chef's Concierge, Italian cooking fundamentals A–Z.
Cycling tours. Picturesque Italy, a quote request per route.
Culinary tours. Taste of Italy, region by region.
Cultural tours. Galleries, basilicas and hill towns.
Venice. One of the destination pages, photos and video.
Blog. Italian cuisine, destinations, recipes, travel tips.
Media. The Officine Italia gallery and press coverage.
Shop. Sixty-six products across OI Collection and Chef's Emporium.
Contact. Six addresses: speak, cook, travel, event, advertise, share.
01 / 12
An Italian language workbook open on a marble café table, the Officine Italia mark small at the foot of the page.
Speak
A tan leather apron at a floured bench, the Officine Italia mark blind debossed into the pocket.
Cook
A stacked set of tan leather luggage, the Officine Italia mark blind debossed into the hanging tag.
Travel
New Italian copper pans on a brass shop rail, an Officine Italia swing tag tied to the nearest handle.
The shop
Officine Italia business cards on marble, the mark reversed in white over a photograph of Rome at dusk.
The card, and the city on it.
Open spreads from the Un Viaggio Culinario Italiano event report: a gnocchi workshop, a lunch menu, dancers in a garden, and Vernazza at dusk.
The country the whole business points at.

You can learn the language, cook the food, or get on the plane.

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Contact

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