According to designers: There is no greater joy than a well-designed restaurant.
We've all chosen meals from a menu that used eight typefaces. Sometimes we go to restaurants for the great food, knowing we'll leave with a design-induced headache. Hey, we designers are sensitive people.
Lucky for Charlotte locals, JJ's Red Hots paid attention to all the important details—they've created an attractive space with well-thought-out design solutions, so we can eat in peace. Join AIGA Charlotte for an evening of hot dogs and restaurant design where we will learn about how founder, Jonathan Luther, and designer, Matt Stevens, collaborated to create the JJ's Red Hots branding.
About the presenters
Jonathan Luther, Founder/Concept Designer: Jonathan has over 20 years of experience in building restaurant concepts and creating multi-media in-store customer experiences for Fortune 500 retail brands. Jonathan led the Media Architecture group for Muzak, the world’s leading provider of in-store media where he worked with a wide range of retail and restaurant brands in creating compelling in-store sensory experiences. Prior to working at Muzak, Jonathan designed, built and managed restaurant concepts, including a quick service Mexican grill concept in Philadelphia called Cool Peppers, and a fast casual American grill concept called Mike’s Warehouse Grill, part of Mike’s Famous Harley-Davidson, the number one retailer of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the world.
Matt Stevens is a designer, illustrator, speaker, creative tinkerer, and former Creative Director of Hawse Design. He is an outspoken advocate for self-initiated projects and he has been fortunate to work great clients such as The NBA, Facebook, Nickelodeon, Wired Magazine and Nike. Some of you may be familiar with his Kickstarter Project: MAX100, a collective of 100 inspired interpretations of the greatest sneaker of all time and his most recent under taking JJ's Red Hots, a brand new restaurant concept, heavily inspired by classic hot dog joints in Buffalo, NY.
JJ’s Red Hots is the premier purveyor of “hand-crafted” char-grilled hot dogs and sausages in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The restaurant concept is built on solid, hardworking values and is modeled after venerable establishments like Ted’s in Buffalo, NY, Gene and Jude’s in Chicago, and many others. Still, JJ’s is true American original featuring house-made, scratch prepared sides and toppings served alongside time tested, revered American brands like Tabasco, Weber’s Mustard, Martin’s Rolls, Coca-Cola and Mt. Olive Pickles. Perhaps most proudly, JJ’s Red Hots serves smokehouse hot dogs from Sahlen’s Meat Packing Company in Buffalo, NY.
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About Meet Your Neighbor
You don't have to look far to see some of the best design around. You can find cutting edge, inspiring design happening right in your own backyard! Come out and meet Carolina-based agency owners, art directors, designers, freelancers, and in-house teams. Hear them speak about inspiration and what drives them to design award-winning work. See their portfolios, tour their space and ask them all the questions you are just dying to know.
