When two entrepreneurs approached Airtype about their bold dream to open a high-end butchery, we were hooked. Until Smoke City Meats came along, grocery stores were the only place to buy good beef. Our clients saw an opportunity to set a new standard for grilled greatness. They envisioned an identity, website, and storefront that said “highest quality” even before customers walked through the door.

For our clients, though, it wasn’t just about meat and giving people a better choice. It was also about family. And it was about being local. For any business, integrity is paramount for success. For Smoke City Meats, this fortitude was simply part of who they are. And they wanted that to be reflected in their brand.

Our initial design exploratory considered marks around the ideas of craft, family, and community. Ultimately, a few well-chosen words, a carefully considered color scheme, elegant typographic treatment, and a meaningful design accent that hinted at smoke rising from a flame grill set the premium tone we were after. All while giving us the flexibility we needed to extend the brand across applications including signage, apparel, digital channels, product materials, and more.

For the website, the first step was determining the right structure. The test was to create a mobile-first custom site, introducing potential customers to the brand and the high-quality meats being sold in the shop. We decided to go with a mobile-optimized single-page vertical scroll which would provide easy access to ordering and as much product information as possible upfront. This was achieved by using interactive section wipes punctuating varying content, a wide array of feastable imagery, editorial images of the farms, butcher shop interior, head butcher at his craft, and custom illustrations of the storefront.

“Airtype has done an amazing job with our branding and has rolled out a website that is the perfect reflection of @smokecitymeats and all that we stand for.”

• Rob, Owner of Smoke City Meats