GÜERO NO.1 TORTAS
TEAM
Done in collaboration with Megan Sanchez, owner of Güero
MY ROLE
Brand Designer
KEYWORDS
BRANDING, GRAPHIC DESIGN, BRAND STRATEGY
ABOUT
Güero No.1 Tortas is a friendly, vibey Mexican restaurant in NE Portland that makes the world’s best mezcal margaritas and masa y papa tortas (even Guy Fieri thinks so). I have been working closely with the owner Megan Sanchez since 2019 to create most of the “clean but weird” branding and collateral for Güero. Megan is a creative director with a clear vision who never runs out of new ideas and inspiration, pulling together concepts into unexpected combinations (think hamburgers and lace doilies, for example). Güero as a brand is always evolving and thus hard to pin down, and any attempts we’ve made at doing so are quickly outdated.
PROCESS
Our process is nontraditional in the sense that it’s nonlinear, abstract, intuitive, and iterative; an eclectic mix of inspiration reflecting the many facets of Megan’s identity and interests. We work together closely to sift through source material and ideas, bouncing ideas back and forth until we land on something that feels good and refine it until it’s just right. We’ve achieved a sort of sixth sense in our collaboration, where a string of abstract references from Megan makes sense to me in a way that it might not to others. It can be time consuming, but it’s worth it to create something that accurately reflects her original vision and intention.
OUTCOMES
We’ve worked on a wide variety of projects including merch for the world’s coolest bird club, a seasonal seafood-centric patio restaurant, a mid-century bar, packaging for pandemic pivots, a cow-themed coffee pop-up, refining the restaurant’s existing branding, and lots of great swag.
LEARNINGS
Throughout the course of our collaboration, I have grown immensely as a mostly self-taught graphic designer. It’s been beautiful to have a hand in the brand evolution of Güero, and to be able to shape it as it develops. I’m grateful to have had the experience of such a nontraditional client relationship as it’s helped me lean into my intuitive strengths as a designer, but in contrast has also helped me understand the benefits of having a more structured relationship with a client.