Dio Mio: Website, Menu & Social Media Refresh
The Need:
In early 2024 acclaimed Italian eatery Dio Mio in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood was looking to freshen things up. They’d been doing brisk business for about 8 years and their following had only grown over the years; add to that a recognition in the 2023 Michelin Guide and things were looking to take a step even further. I originally worked with the Dio Mio team when they opened their restaurant on a shoe-string budget. Now they had the backing and ambition to set up their business for another 8 years of bustling success. They contracted to renovate their space and knew it was time to renovate their online, menu, and social media presence as well. I was only too glad to get the call to help them out once more.
The Solutions:
Brand Update & Website
This project began with revisit of the brand itself. They had a very established presence with their praying pasta hands icon, but the colors and typography had grown stale. So I started by looking at the physical refresh to the space. The vision was light with warm natural hues throughout, so I expanded the color palette by sampling directly from the architectural vision and matching them to recognizable noodly elements. For typography I added two typefaces to the kit to enhance usability. Teko came in as an alternate for the branded Arvil used in the logo, and Lato was added as a utility typeface. The goal here was to ensure accessiblity, both of these typefaces come from the Google Font set, and thus could be applied easily when it came time to create new social media templates in Canva.
This also meant that freshening up the website was both fun and breezy. The new typography and colors slotted in amazingly against their now robust catalog of imagery. I did a little copywriting work as well, notably the prominently featured “Pasta For The People” headline that has come to embody this new iteration of Dio Mio. Their goal from day one was to supply elevated pasta in a wallet-friendly, counter-service environment. Allowing all the people their chance to eat a Michelin-recognized meal. For overall design I kept things light here as well, open spaces, layered imagery and clear, bold usage of copy throughout helped provide a new public face for the brand.
Menu
On the food and beverage side of things, the team had a vision of a menu refresh as well, featuring a greatly-expanded cocktail and wine program, and a move toward a much more share-forward small plate food offerings. The menu is always changing at Dio so I needed to provide a system that was clear, adaptable, and ready to be edited by the team at a moment’s notice. We landed on a series of Canva templates using the refreshed brand appearance in a variety of sizes that allows them to print the endless stream of menu updates and specialty menus that come through their restaurant.
Social Media Assets
Dio Mio has always had a lively and fun social media presence, so the final step was to bring this fresh new take on their established brand to socials. Again I turned to Canva here, supplying the team with a suite of ready-made templates that could slot in whatever content they needed. The new color palette here really made a splash with big bold washes, layered text on imagery, and a hand-drawn set of “pasta patterns” that bring fun movement and authenticity to this well-loved brand. I can’t take much credit for all the clever things the team has done with these templates, but it sure has been fun watching them come to life.
The Results
Remodelling and relaunching a restaurant is a fraught business, but alongside the sharp team at Dio Mio, I was able to launch the new website, menu system, and social media presence right in conjunction with the renovation. This ensured the new presence came out in the strongest possible position and the city was abuzz about the new look for Denver’s newest Michelin-recognized pasta shop. Today menu, website, and social media have all been handed back to the Dio team and the continue to wow with their fun-loving usage of this incredible brand.
