The Grumpy Rabbit
Brand Strategy • Branding • Web Design • Marketing
With a desire to have a place for locals to share meals and make connections, Gina and Jim Wiertelak decided to open The Grumpy Rabbit American Eatery with a vision for hospitality and revitalization right in the heart of historic Downtown Lonoke.
Thrive was engaged in the early phases of the restaurant’s planning to provide comprehensive branding consultancy services, working with the owners to establish the brand’s visual identity system that reflected the restaurant’s unique atmosphere of playfulness and detailed excellence. The Grumpy Rabbit American Eatery branding project exemplifies our mission of empowerment through good design. Lonoke, Arkansas is known as “The Front Porch of the Delta,” and is striving to be a community that is attractive to investment and growth.
The design of the branding system involved a methodical progression through various iterations of the primary logo, the accompanying colors, secondary logos, and typefaces. These elements were then thoughtfully utilized throughout the restaurant’s permanent construction, including a unique projecting blade sign designed to evoke neon signage once present along Lonoke’s Front Street, and the consumable collateral, such as paper menus, coasters, and to-go bags.
The success of this project can be attributed to the integration of the graphic design team with the building design team at the schematic stages. Thrive’s team worked in collaboration with Lonoke-based Shine Interior Design Studio, drawing cues from the interior finishes, patterns, colorways, and defining elements to establish the character of the visual identity system’s details.
Thrive staff also launched the social media outlets and web presence of The Grumpy Rabbit, designing regular posts in the months leading up to the opening and attaining a followership of over 2,500 Facebook users and nearly 1,100 Instagram followers within four months. The Grumpy Rabbit website features food photography from Dero Sanford, for which Thrive provided art direction, and integrated reservation system via OpenTable.
