International Smoke Las Vegas

In a city that represents excess, there is no shortage of excellent restaurants. Every eatery worth its black volcanic salt has to grab diners’ attention and whet their palette in a matter of seconds to maintain a competitive edge. When International Smoke—a concept built around celebrating grilling traditions from all over the globe—asked for help refreshing their brand toolkit, we knew that we needed to come up with messaging and design systems that were eye-catching, informative, and, above all, fun.

Since the menu, created by Michelin-starred Chef Michael Mina and Ayesha Curry, offered smoked peri peri chicken alongside Korean-style short ribs, we designed our layouts to prominently feature multi-dish photography. Since the restaurant’s name didn’t adequately convey the concept, we added a tagline and used subheads to further communicate what guests could expect. And since International Smoke was more fun and casual than other restaurants of its caliber, we used a cheekier tone in our headlines and more playful design elements in our executions. In the end, we handed International Smoke Las Vegas a toolkit with three different seasonal looks and a collection of dozens of sample headlines to keep their ads hot, fresh, and ahead of the competition.