The initial research: I went to The Boiling Crab, stuffed myself silly on tasty seafood, made a hybrid seafood creature, and wrote down all the words that I associated with my experience.
I also took note of the current The Boiling Crab logo. I tried to see past its sins (kerning that makes the typographic angels cry, outlining type, comic sans??) to its good qualities: it was friendly! It was also pleasantly literal --The Boiling Crab is after all the place to eat yummy crab.
Experiment 1: The Crab! Messy. Spicy.
Thinking about spiciness translated into a loud red and yellow color scheme.The jagged irregular edges of the typography and the crab illustration reflect the messy business of eating shellfish.
Experiment 2: Fun. Family-style. Fresh.
I took the design from the previous round and immediately changed the color palette to reflect the essence of fresh seafood: blue & red. I followed by picking type that felt straightforward and friendly. This was better, but the crab had to change--its sharp edges and loose design did not fit with the family-style friendliness I wanted to focus on.
The visual weight of the crab's body dominated the above logo. Still, using parts of the crab in the logotype was just too fun to pass up, so I decided to reduce the crab to its essential parts--the crab claws! The quest for the perfect claw begins.
The Final: Fun. Family-style. Fresh.
Other considerations: does the design work in black and white? Does it work in any of the variations of the "fresh seafood" color palette?
Bonus
A friendly crab for the kids
Napkin pattern
