Meat Heads, a fast-casual dining chain of restaurants in Illinois, specializes in high-quality quick meals prepared daily from the freshest ingredients, similar to Potbelly’s or Chipotle.

The backers of Meat Heads, Tartan Realty Group, challenged UpShift to create a modern, upscale brand identity program that would resonate with a broad range of suburban and urban targets and positioned the restaurant at the top of its category.

An old-fashioned steak joint meets classic American diner with every touchpoint working together. UpShift executed a “soup-to-nuts” approach that included brand image, collateral, signage, uniforms, and promotions. To ensure that the concept got off on the right hoof, there was hardly a branded component that UpShift did not design. We even handled interior colors and furnishings.

To infuse the brand with humor: T-Shirts and other items say “Certified Meat Head”, “Nice to Meat You” and, simply, “Carnivore”. These have turned out to be a favorite point-of-purchase item in the restaurants.

All diners love Meat Heads because of the thick hand-pressed burgers made daily from Certified Angus beef and handcut fries. They also embraced the brand image and the interior design that UpShift created—more families, couples and working professionals than predicted are eating there, leading to even higher dining receipts.

Our work for Meat Heads won awards from:
• The Communicator Awards
• Davey Awards
• Graphic Design USA

Industry

• restaurants

Deliverables

• brand identity
• logo design
• web site design
• signage design
• restaurant interior design
• packaging design
• marketing and promotions

Entire Case Study

meatheads (pdf)

More Information

about meatheads

upshift fact sheet (pdf)