• A$150

• 6 days left

• 90 designs

• 48 designers

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Logo Design Brief

THE COMMON TABLE

Logo Design Brief

About the Brand

The Common Table is a dining and conversation experience designed to bring people together around a table for something increasingly rare: meaningful conversation with people they may not otherwise meet or understand.

The premise is simple: food brings us to the table; conversation brings us closer.

The Common Table creates hosted dining experiences where strangers, friends, community members and people with different perspectives come together around a shared meal and are invited into thoughtful, honest and sometimes challenging conversations.

It is not a restaurant, a food brand or a traditional networking event.

It sits somewhere between hospitality, culture, community and conversation.

The table is the common ground.

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The Name

The brand name is:

THE COMMON TABLE

This is the only wording required in the logo.

Do not include:

* “with Kiri and Josh”
* Founders’ names
* A tagline
* Event-specific wording

The identity needs to be able to stand independently and grow beyond its founders.

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What We Are Looking For

We are looking for a logo that is:

* Simple
* Elegant
* Timeless
* Intelligent
* Warm
* Distinctive
* Human
* Highly adaptable

The logo should feel considered rather than designed for the sake of being clever.

We want something that could sit comfortably on a beautifully printed card on a dinner table, but could equally work as a small social media avatar, website header, email signature, poster, book cover or future merchandise.

The strongest direction is likely to be a beautifully resolved wordmark or wordmark + very simple symbol.

Less is more.

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The Feeling

The brand should evoke:

Gathering
Belonging
Curiosity
Conversation
Connection
Hospitality
Perspective
Humanity
Warmth
Thoughtfulness

There should be a sense that something interesting happens when people come together.

The logo doesn’t need to literally illustrate this.

In fact, we’d prefer that it doesn’t.

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Visual Direction

Colour

Black and white only.

No colour palette is required at this stage.

The logo must work equally well:

* Black on white
* White reversed out of black
* At very small sizes
* In print
* Digitally

Typography

Typography is particularly important.

We are looking for something classic, clean and beautifully proportioned.

Think:

* Excellent kerning
* Strong spacing
* Elegant letterforms
* Quiet confidence
* Editorial rather than corporate
* Contemporary without being fashionable
* Classic without feeling old-fashioned

We do not want a generic “luxury restaurant” serif, an obviously AI-generated type treatment, or an overly decorative/fashion-led font.

The typography should feel like it has been carefully chosen or customised for this particular brand.

A sophisticated sans-serif direction could also be explored if it has enough character.

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Symbol / Icon

A symbol is welcome, but it should be extremely simple.

Potential conceptual territory could include:

* A shared table
* A tabletop
* People gathered around something
* A meeting point
* Two perspectives coming together
* A circle / gathering
* A subtle “common ground”
* Negative space
* An abstract interpretation of a table

However, please avoid literal hospitality clichés such as:

* Forks
* Knives
* Spoons
* Plates
* Wine glasses
* Chef hats
* Restaurant-style illustrations
* Generic speech bubbles

If a table is represented, we’d prefer it to be abstract and intelligent rather than literal.

The symbol should ideally be capable of becoming an icon on its own.

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Brand Personality

If The Common Table were a person, they would be:

Warm, curious, intelligent, confident and interested in other people.

They aren’t trying to impress the room.

They are the person who asks the question that gets everyone talking.

The brand should feel sophisticated without being exclusive.

Thoughtful without being serious.

Provocative without being aggressive.

Warm without becoming whimsical.

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What We Don’t Want

Please avoid logos that feel:

* Corporate
* Tech/start-up
* Generic restaurant
* Fine-dining cliché
* Rustic/country
* Overly feminine
* Overly masculine
* Hippie/bohemian
* Community-organisation / charity
* Political
* Too playful
* Too “Instagram brand”
* Overly complicated
* Dependent on colour

We also don’t want the logo to look like a generic AI-generated brand identity.

Originality, typography and restraint are more important than visual complexity.

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Applications

The logo will initially be used across:

* Instagram / social media
* Website
* Email
* Event invitations
* Conversation/question cards
* Printed table materials
* Signage
* Posters
* Restaurant/venue collateral
* Photography overlays
* Presentation documents
* Recipe book / future publications
* Potential merchandise

The logo therefore needs to work both large and extremely small.

A strong horizontal version is particularly important for website, email and digital applications.

A compact icon/avatar version is also required.

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Required Logo Deliverables

Please provide:

1. Primary Logo

The main presentation of:

The Common Table

2. Horizontal Lockup

A horizontal version suitable for:

* Website headers
* Email signatures
* Digital documents
* Signage

3. Stacked Version

For:

* Posters
* Invitations
* Printed materials
* Square social applications

4. Icon / Symbol

A standalone mark that can work without the words.

5. Social Media Version

A square/circular application suitable for Instagram and other social profiles.

6. Black & White Variations

* Black on white
* White on black

7. File Formats

Final artwork should ideally include:

* AI / EPS / SVG vector files
* PDF
* PNG
* JPG
* Transparent-background versions
* High-resolution versions

Please include both editable vector artwork and outlined/final artwork where appropriate.

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Design Approach

We are open to designers interpreting the brief rather than simply illustrating the words “Common Table”.

We would particularly welcome concepts that find a quiet, clever visual idea within the name or philosophy.

The best solution may be incredibly simple.

We are not looking for a logo that tells the entire story.

We are looking for a logo that makes people curious about the story.

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The Big Idea

At its heart, The Common Table is about one simple belief:

When people sit around the same table, they have more in common than they thought.

The logo should capture that spirit with simplicity, confidence and restraint.

Keywords

COMMON
TABLE
GATHER
CONNECT
CONVERSATION
PERSPECTIVE
BELONGING
CURIOUS
HUMAN
ELEGANT
SIMPLE
TIMELESS

Industry/Entity Type

Events

Logo Text

The Common Table

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Logo styles of interest

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Font styles to use

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Colors

Designer to choose only greyscale colors for use in the design.

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Look and feel

Each slider illustrates characteristics of the customer's brand and the style your logo design should communicate.

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Requirements

Must have

• Simple design

Should not have

• Colours, too busy or complicated