From Logo to Complete Brand Guidelines: One Restaurateur's Journey

The project: opening a fine-dining restaurant with no marketing budget

Nadia K. opened "Le Cèdre Doré", a Lebanese fine-dining restaurant in Bordeaux, in October 2025. Her opening budget was tight: premises, kitchen equipment, hiring. There was practically nothing left for branding.

Yet for a fine-dining restaurant, image counts as much as the cooking. Menus, wine list, shopfront, presence on booking apps (TheFork, Google): everything has to be consistent and elegant.

Step 1: The logo, in minutes

"I generated my BrandMotion Lab logo one evening at 11pm, between two orders. I selected the 'Restaurant / Fine Dining' sector, entered the name 'Le Cèdre Doré', and chose a golden, elegant direction. Out of the 24 proposals, two really caught my eye. I slept on it and chose the next morning."

The sector she selected corresponds to the restaurant logo page, which applies the visual codes of food service from the start.

Step 2: Extracting the color palette

From the colors of the logo she chose, Nadia extracted her brand palette: a gold (#C9A84C), a deep burgundy (#6B1D2E), and a cream ivory (#F8F4E8). Those three colors became the pillars of her entire visual identity.

Step 3: Building the brand guidelines

With those colors and her vector logo, Nadia created in Figma (free):

• The menus (A4 format, ivory background, burgundy headings, gold accents)
• The business cards (burgundy background, gold logo, 85×55mm format)
• The Instagram templates (posts and stories consistent with the palette)
• The interior signage (chalkboards, daily specials)

The result: a premium image for less than €50

Item	Cost
BrandMotion Lab logo	€49.99 (Logo Pack)
Figma (for the guidelines)	€0 (free plan)
Google Fonts typeface	€0
Total for complete branding	€49.99
Creative agency equivalent	€3,000 - 8,000

6 months after opening

"Le Cèdre Doré is rated 4.8/5 on Google with 340 reviews. Several customers have told me they chose the restaurant on TheFork 'because the logo looked really high-end'. My visual identity clearly played a part in that decision. For less than 50 euros, it is the best investment of my launch."