First Watch had a warm, neighborhood personality on the plate. I carried it everywhere else a guest meets the brand, from a billboard three miles out to the syrup on the kitchen counter.
First Watch, The Daytime Cafe
Restaurants
Creative direction, art direction, design leadership
The 100th restaurant
The food already had personality. The rest of the visit needed to catch up, and new guests needed a reason to walk in.
Take the small, familiar things about breakfast and give every one of them something to say.
One voice from the road to the table, and 100 engraved forks to mark restaurant number 100.
Seven stops a guest passes on the way to breakfast, and what the brand says at each one.
01 On the road
A billboard puts the plate in front of drivers and points the way. The brand is talking long before anyone parks.
Outdoor advertising
02 In the lot
An egg-shaped coupon on the windshield turned a parked car into an invitation. Hard to miss, and easy to keep.
Guerrilla couponing
03 At the door
Open means open. And when it isn’t, the sign simply says Nope.
Open and closed window sign
04 At the table
Window signs, menus and tabletop materials keep the conversation going while guests order and wait.
Window signs, menus and tabletop materials
05 Taken home
Pancake mix and syrup labels give guests a piece of the café to take home.
Packaging and label design
06 All year
Seasonal posters give regulars something new to see, like a Father’s Day poster that pours on the love.
Posters
07 On a shirt
T-shirts that put the brand’s sense of humor on a chest, from bacon love to a nice stack.
T-shirt designs
When First Watch opened its hundredth location, I marked it with 100 Forks. Each fork is engraved for one restaurant and displayed there.
Together, all 100 hang in the conference room at the corporate office, a matching set that shows how far the neighborhood café has come.
