Nigerian Street Buka's Logo - Project 25 Final

    Nigerian clothing and street restaurant signs are filled with vibrant and bold colors. Each region's colors vary, but many wear colorful attire at some point.

    To begin my logo process, I came up with the name Nigerian Street Buka. I wanted Nigerian and street in the name so that people knew what kind of food it was, but I also wanted it to be unique so I named it Nigerian Street Buka. Buka refers to small local shops in Nigeria, and that is what my restaurant represents. I also knew that I wanted to represent music and food.

    Then, I sketched 30 thumbnails, and from the 30 that I sketched, I chose 3 thumbnails. I then created 3 roughs from these thumbnails, adding more detail. I again chose 1 rough for my final design.

    I uploaded a photo of my rough to Adobe Illustrator, and I began drawing everything out with the pen tool. As I came to the final logo, I realized that there were some details that I did not like. I ended up going with Bookman Old Style Bold Italic for my typeface because it stands out, has an edgy feel, and it fits the “street food” style. It is fun without being too hard to read. Originally, I drew out a font that I found, but it did not go with the theme of my restaurant.

    I also made some other changes. I added another djembe to balance out my piece, and I made the frying pan smaller with flames coming from beneath it. I stuck that frying pan in the middle to represent the food aspect. I added flames because Nigerian street food is known to be loud and sizzling in front of guests. The djembes represent the bustling, loud, joyful music that will be playing at Nigerian Street Buka, just like it is in Nigeria.

    I chose for the words and pan to be black; the fire is in a gradient starting with orange fading into red, and the djembes are green and white, representing the flag colors in Nigeria. I wanted the colors to represent all of Nigeria, not just one region.

Some symbolic colors for Nigeria are:

Green: represents Nigeria’s natural resources and agriculture.

White: peace and unity.

Red: strength and courage.

Black: fertile soil and richness of the land.

Final Logo In 4 Formats

Lines:

Black and White:

4-Color:

Reverse

    Ultimately, I wanted my logo to have a welcoming and fun representation that would lure customers in to experience the Nigerian culture through food and music. I also wanted it to be memorable, and the djembe drums are something that sticks out along with the typeface and the flames coming from under the frying pan.