The brief was simple: create a new logo and visual identity for a restaurant then in development, while ensuring that the system could be easily applied across the network’s existing and future venues and its other activities. The previous visual identity had been created for the first venue and, as KRO gradually expanded, was no longer able to meet all of its new needs.

KRO is a Prague-based culinary concept that brings fine-dining techniques into the informal, everyday settings of a bistro, café, and bakery. It grew around rotisserie chicken but gradually expanded its scope to include distinctive vegetable-focused cooking, fermentation, sourdough bread, and the in-house production of sauces, tempeh, miso, and drinks. Today, it forms an interconnected ecosystem of several venues built on craftsmanship, quality ingredients, and a relaxed atmosphere.

At the outset, it was not clear which direction the new form of the logotype would take, and during the search we prepared a range of different typographic concepts. Together with the client, we ultimately concluded that the most appropriate approach would be to refine the existing mark with restraint and avoid a more extravagant transformation. The focus of the redesign therefore shifted to a carefully structured visual system that could support a growing number of venues and activities.

Typography built on a set of custom typefaces thus became the core of the identity. Each typeface serves a clearly defined role, with characteristics suited to specific tasks. While preparing the identity guidelines, we tested how they performed in practice and developed the individual solutions directly through specific applications.

Yolo Text, a retail typeface with a sufficiently versatile character, proved the most suitable choice for the primary typeface. This choice later defined all the typography that followed. To maintain balanced proportions across different logotype sizes, a custom weight was developed between the original Medium and Semibold styles. The contrast of the design was also reduced and the horizontal strokes strengthened to give the wordmark a more robust appearance. These adjustments were then extended across the entire typeface, resulting in a customized version named KRO Crew.

Further changes were small in scale but significant in character and concerned the forms of individual glyphs. In response to the circular motif, a less conspicuous single-story lowercase “a” and a more conservative, symmetrical “Y” were selected. A more decorative form of the numeral “1” from Yolo Display was added as well.

In addition to the logotype itself, the typeface is used in headlines, introductory text, and other supporting elements. Within the typographic system, it provides emphasis and helps define the overall character.

In a hospitality venue, a typeface’s primary task is often to set food and drink menus. Tabletop and wall-mounted menus often have a complex typographic structure: the typeface must perform equally well in short names and longer ingredient lists, while its numerals must remain clearly distinguishable both in prices and when used as superscript allergen markers. The typesetting must not only present information clearly but also establish a sufficiently distinct hierarchy.

These demands could be divided among several type families with different characteristics. At KRO, however, the aim was to keep the typography as simple as possible. Menus are updated at least once a week, and managers at each venue handle the updates in online editors. They do so without a designer looking over their shoulders.

KRO Display therefore took on the role of a universal workhorse typeface. It is based on Yolo Info, whose condensed construction proved best suited to this purpose. Testing showed that the Medium style needed slightly more weight to distinguish it clearly from Regular and Bold. All styles include the same alternate glyphs as KRO Crew.

The most expressive part of the type system originated in a purely practical need. For the technical production of the neon logotype, the original design had to be converted into a strictly geometric outline form. The first version therefore contained only three glyphs.

The visual principle, however, proved distinctive and strong enough to work beyond its original application. The outline design was then expanded to include a full set of uppercase letters and numerals, followed later by arrows and a basic collection of pictograms for the wayfinding system. A one-off technical solution thus developed into a fully fledged display style that extended KRO’s typographic language into physical space.

Its construction is also suitable for cutting from sheet metal and is therefore used, for example, on reservation signs and order-number stands. KRO Stencil thus combines an expressive character with the practical fabrication logic from which it originally grew.

Work on the KRO identity confirmed that no simulation in mock-ups can test a typeface as thoroughly as real-world use. The individual parts did not develop in isolation but in contact with specific situations, from the logotype and labels through regularly updated menus to wayfinding and the production of physical elements. Each application presented different demands and helped refine the resulting typefaces.

The result is a set of related typographic tools with a common foundation and clearly defined roles. Together, they keep the identity coherent while responding to the different needs of the individual venues.

The visual identity thus grew around the typeface, while lessons from day-to-day operations feed back into the typeface’s continued development. This feedback loop symbolically closes the circle at the heart of KRO’s visual identity.