Graeme Jack is a Vancouver-based creative director with over 20 years of experience shaping brands, designing popular restaurant identities, creative advertising campaigns, and the brain behind many popular consumer-facing experiences.
His work spans from legacy brands like White Spot—including the Fresh Thinking, Fresh Cooking campaign bringing forth chefs like Rob Feenie and John Bishop—to fast-growing independent restaurants and concepts that have become some of the most talked-about spaces in the city today.
You’ve likely seen his branding work around Vancouver and BC—even if you didn’t know it.
THE INTERVIEW
How did you get into restaurant branding?
When I began my second job at a creative ad agency I started working on the rebrand of White Spot for their Fresh Thinking, Fresh Cooking campaign. That was a turning point—working with real chefs, real food, and seeing how branding actually affects how people experience a place.
From there, I worked on Triple O’s, focusing on burger campaigns, art direction, and food photography. That’s where I really started understanding how restaurants communicate visually—and how small details can completely change perception.
Over time, all the branding experience I gained evolved into working with independent restaurants and startups, building from the ground up or taking what they had and pushing it further.
What makes a restaurant brand successful today?
Every day you can safely say that having a successful restaurant is harder today than it was yesterday. Now more than ever, the world is full of fake so to contrast it, your brand has to feel real. Besides the great good, great location and fine tuning to get your recipe for success, you need to be exciting, interesting, memorable, human and LOVED.
A lot of places focus on simple aesthetics—clean logos, minimalist interiors—but they forget the bigger picture. A restaurant is a full experience. It’s how it looks from the street, how the menu reads, how the space feels, how people talk about it after and who is behind it.
If everything isn’t working together, people notice. Even if they can’t explain why.
The places that succeed are the ones where one person had a vision and obsesses over it until it comes to life. You can't hide behind the curtain, and honestly, you can try, like myself but eventually people want to know who you are, or they move on.
What’s something most restaurants get wrong?
They design for themselves instead of for their customers.
I’ve seen a lot of pizza shops and burger places fail because they follow trends—minimal, stripped back, “cool”—but there’s no story, no personality, no reason for people to connect with it.
You can’t apply the same aesthetic to every concept. It has to be specific. It has to make sense for what you’re creating. It's not generated with a prompt, it takes years of experience to know what will resonate and why.
If people don’t understand what you are in a few seconds, you’ve already lost them.
Can you share some projects that stand out?
There are a few that come to mind.
Dante Italian Sandwich is a good example of building something that people talk about. The goal wasn’t just to make it look good—it was to create something that felt distinct and memorable. It’s grown quickly, and the brand plays a big role in that.
Straight Outta Brooklyn NYC Pizza is another one. That was about refining and elevating the brand across everything—digital, signage, make it great so it can work as a successful franchise—help it scale while staying true to what made it work, that NYC grit.
Via Tevere Pizzeria, Street Hawker, and Don't Argue Slice Shop are all examples of places where the brand becomes part of why people show up (and the amazing food, of course).
They’re busy, they’re talked about, and the design is part of that conversation.
What do clients typically come to you for?
Any industry you choose to be in you are up against a whole set obstacles. Usually when people come to me they have either hit those obstacles or they want to prepare the best they can to avoid them.
That might be launching a new restaurant and needing a full brand—identity, menus, signage, packaging, tone of voice, digital presence.
Or it’s a place that’s already doing okay but needs to level up—to feel more cohesive, more intentional, more competitive and be seen and talked about.
I’m often brought in to look at the whole picture and shape how everything connects.
What’s your approach to the work?
I care and I choose to work on what I believe in and if I think I can make a big impact.
I know that seems so simple to say but you'd be surprised these days how hard it is to find someone that truly cares about someone else's success. I prefer to make the projects I do be memorable, impactful, stand the test of time and make my clients famous, not me.
I’m not out networking or trying to be visible. I’m focused on the work itself—how it looks, how it feels, how it performs in the real world.
Every project is different. You can’t force your own style onto everything. The goal is to create something that fits—something that people understand and respond to immediately.
Street Hawker Main Street
Dante Take Out Bags Robson Street
Straight Outta Brooklyn NYC Pizzeria Vancouver
Don't Argue Slice Shop Commercial Drive
Potluck Hawker Eatery Print Ads
Restaurant Branding FAQ
Who is a restaurant branding designer in Vancouver?
A restaurant branding designer in Vancouver helps create the identity, look, and overall experience of a restaurant. This includes logo design, menus, signage, packaging, and digital presence. Vancouver-based creative director Graeme Jack has over 20 years of experience developing brands for businesses, restaurants and advertising campaigns across British Columbia.
What does restaurant branding include?
Restaurant branding includes logo design, visual identity, menu design, signage, packaging, advertising, and digital presence such as websites and online ordering. It also involves shaping how a restaurant feels—from the street to the interior space—so customers immediately understand what it is and why it matters.
How much does restaurant branding cost in Vancouver?
The cost of restaurant branding in Vancouver depends on the scope of the project. Smaller branding projects may focus on identity and menus, while full-scale restaurant branding can include signage, packaging, interior direction, and advertising campaigns. Pricing varies based on complexity and level of creative direction required.
Who designed Dante Italian Sandwich branding?
The branding and creative direction for Dante Italian Sandwich in Vancouver was developed by creative director Graeme Jack, whose work focuses on building memorable restaurant brands that stand out and grow.
Who designs restaurant menus and signage in Vancouver?
Restaurant menus and signage in Vancouver are typically designed by branding designers or creative directors who understand how brand identity works in real-world environments. Graeme Jack works on menus, signage, and full restaurant brand systems to ensure consistency and impact across every touchpoint.
What makes a restaurant brand successful?
A successful restaurant brand is clear, specific, and memorable. It goes beyond a logo and includes how the restaurant looks, feels, and communicates. Strong restaurant branding creates recognition, builds trust, and gives people a reason to choose one place over another. Typically the creative director ensures all creatives, including interior design, signage and printers are aligned with the vision.