The Need:
Dio Mio Handmade Pasta was looking to get off the ground in the fall of 2016 and enter the burgeoning Denver culinary market. They had an excellent value proposition that squarely set them apart from the competition with adventurous, made-in-house pastas and other culinary delicacies in a counter service environment. I had already worked with the team to turn their logo into a fully fleshed out visual identity, now it was time to bring the company to life with a new website. Head chefs and founders Alex Segura and Spencer White needed a clean, visually captivating site that highlighted their ever-evolving menus and special events.
The Remedy:
Given that the founding duo needed to be able to easily update menus, events and other features on their site once it was built I decided that a Squarespace site- with email and Google Suite integrations to take care of their connection needs- was the best fit. I then began to research sites of key competitors in the area and noticed some key trends: visually heavy and dark sites, waif-thin font choices and surprisingly little information about the creators behind the food. I decided to take a slightly antagonistic approach to these trends.
The Dio Mio Homepage.
The site I created was light, airy and a bit cheeky…a bit like stepping into Dio Mio itself. Of course while adhering to my previously developed brand standards. I worked with local video production company Collective Culture to create a captivating homepage background video that showcased this chef duo in action. In the copy we allowed things to be a bit unconventional, while still focusing on the compelling story behind Dio Mio’s inception.
Per earlier discussions, we knew that integrations with social media would be absolutely vital to keeping content fresh and relevant to what was going on in the restaurant. This is most apparent in our heavy use of Instagram integration where users can get up to date shots of what’s being created in the Dio Mio kitchen.
One of our goals from the outset of this project was to allow Spencer and Alex to be self-sufficient with the site once it was built. This meant editing key content areas like the menu and event pages. I built the site with this in mind making these areas easy to edit, and then worked with the team to train them precisely on how to change out content and ensure it always looked sharp.
The Results:
Since we brought the website live in the fall of 2016 the founders have been able to easily edit key content, while dynamic social feeds have always stayed fresh. It facilitated the sell out of three “pop up” preview events before the restaurant even opened its doors, and has allowed for easy updates for new menus. Since they’ve opened Dio Mio has enjoyed steadily gaining traffic; has been listed as one of the best new restaurants by The Denver Eater, Westword and 5280; and have been able to expand in-restaurant events and offerings.
