Palette is a dynamic fine-dining and art destination in SOMA, San Francisco that playfully explores the relationship between food, art and community.
Position / Brand Marketing Consultant
Brand Development
Palette is a new concept restaurant by chef and owner Peter J. Hemsley. As a fully integrated restaurant, art gallery and shop, it was important to embrace Hemsley’s vision for experiential storytelling through food and art. The story is what defines Palette—Chef’s artistic approach to penning dishes, the unique presentation made possible by one-of-a-kind wares created in collaboration with local artisans, and gallery exhibitions that highlight concepts related to food culture. My charge was to distill the beautiful layers of Palette into an approachable yet inspiring brand. At its core, Palette is food, art and community, providing guests with a unique experience that ignites the senses.
Content & Programming
Palette is more than a restaurant that turns table twice a night. It is a lively flourishing brand fueled by the community and guests who enter its doors. Working with Palette’s leadership team, we created branded content and programs to be experienced through Palette’s various digital channels and brick and mortar location.
Photography Direction
Palette is bright, vibrant and full of texture, patterns and surprises. Offering a playful yet refined dining experience, the brand’s visual communication needed to reflect this. I worked with a local photographer who is highly skilled in lighting to capture the essence of Palette’s dishes through contrasted imagery and the beautiful chaos of the interior. For e-commerce, we took a minimalist approach and focused on highlighting the handcrafted quality of each product.
Artisan Series
Drawing from natural resources and a wide range of mediums, Palette partners with local artisans to create unique wares that are integrated into the dining and retail experience. We partnered with an independent filmmaker to create a series of artisan videos that demonstrate the process of ceramic making, glassmaking and blacksmithing, and each artisan’s commitment to his craft.
Artisan Workshops
Palette Workshops encourage the education and practice of beautiful and historical techniques engendering a community that celebrates the art of craft. With food as the foundation, Palette partners with local artisans to offer classes in ceramics, textiles, soap making and more.
Gallery Exhibitions
Palette Gallery provides artists of all disciplines the opportunity to create and showcase their work through the exploration of food and art. Quarterly exhibits were created to provide a platform for artists and the community to engage through events, workshops and artist talks.
Social Media
Palette’s branded content and programming required distribution to a targeted audience. I led the social media strategy and creative direction and employed an industry-leading media company to develop ongoing content and leverage social channels to meet brand goals.
Website & E-Commerce
As Palette readied for opening and the business units of restaurant, gallery and shop materialized, it was imperative the brand’s digital platform support a cohesive experience and integrate the proper tools for business needs. The marketing site was already built on Squarespace and there was a need to develop an e-commerce site to support the retail arm of Palette. The most cost effective, timely and reliable solution was to utilize Shopify for the brand’s e-commerce platform and create a seamless integration with the marketing site where all branded content, events and reservation tools lived. This provided Palette the ability to manage its own content and take advantage of Shopify’s superior e-commerce tools.
My Role / Brand Strategy / Creative Direction / Web Development / Digital Strategy / Program Development
Photography / Rob Williamson
Social Media Agency / Ghost Media
Web Design / Cory Borman