under nda · case study

Elisa Vihonen

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case study · 2026 · under nda

Elisa Vihonen

Identity, website and launch kit for a private chef working between Roma and Helsinki.

client
Elisa Vihonen, private chef
role
art direction, web design & build, brand identity
by
Dafne Salvatori · get-daffed
type
Dufus Doodle (Dafne, 2017), Newsreader, DM Mono
Pink takeaway bag with the Elisa Vihonen stamp, held in the sun

01 · brief

A blank page, an Instagram full of long tables, and an apron.

Elisa had no website and no identity — just her cooking, documented beautifully on Instagram: weddings in Sicily, midsummer dinners, long lunches at The Farm in Rome, cakes for everyone.

The brief: a home on the web that feels like her tables — soft colours, real light, hosted not staged — and a kit she can use for bookings and events. One rule from Elisa: no black, ever. One object to build from: her blue-on-blue striped apron.

02 · direction

Moodboard: Sicilian long table, blue-foil cupcakes, the apron stripe, Elisa's kitchen, lilac coupe, palette chips

Soft, sunlit, set for twelve.

Off-white pages, a blush panel, burgundy and cocoa instead of black. The apron stripe (#5a6cb0 on #b3b9dd) is the one graphic device: the band that holds the navigation, the cloth under every illustration, the edge of every print.

References: restaurant matchbooks, scalloped coasters, editorial food posters with cut-outs and callouts, sunlit still life with hard shadows.

03 · the name face

Elisa Vihonen

Dufus Doodle — drawn by Dafne in 2017.

The name is set in a typeface I drew back in 2017: loose, hollow, a little goofy. It is used for her name and headlines only, never for running text.

On the site the hollow letters are filled with frosted glass, so the photos scroll softly through the name.

Elisa Vihonen
a b c d e f g h i j k l m
n o p q r s t u v w x y z
& ? ! 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

04 · website · white version

Scattered photos around a fixed name.

A white canvas with photos scattered around the name, a pink menu panel with inline thumbnails, and the striped band pinned to the bottom of the screen.

White version, menu panel on desktopWhite version, menu on a phoneWhite version, about on a phone

05 · website · doodle version

Same bones, more personality.

The hand-drawn name in frosted glass with the photos scrolling through it, a numbered index menu with a big photo that follows the cursor, and a two-column about page. On phones it becomes a calm, staggered column.

Doodle version, numbered index menuDoodle version, about pageDoodle version, menu on a phone

06 · explored & cut — the bow intro

A real-time 3D satin bow that unties into the striped band.

Built in Three.js: a custom ribbon mesh along animated curves, matte fabric shading, stripes calibrated pixel-for-pixel to the CSS band so the ribbon lands seamlessly. It worked — and then we cut it. The site is better when it opens straight onto the food.

status: archived (js/intro3d.js)

07 · logo

Four directions, one hand.

A stacked wordmark, an EV monogram on the striped cloth, a scalloped stamp with circular type, and an illustrated lockup with the fig cake. The name is always Dufus Doodle; the marks borrow the illustration line.

Logo A, stacked wordmarkLogo B, EV monogramLogo C, scalloped stampLogo D, illustrated lockup

08 · identity

Colour and type boardIllustrations and the apron stripePhoto style board

09 · posters

One dish, one poster.

Cut-outs from Elisa's own photos, numbered callouts on thin curved lines, grain and lots of air. The last one sets mono text straight across the dish.

PosterPosterPosterPosterPoster

10 · instagram

stories · now booking / event / menu reveal — events and dates are concept examples

Aperitivo Night carousel, slide 1Aperitivo Night carousel, slide 2Aperitivo Night carousel, slide 3Aperitivo Night carousel, slide 4
Midsummer Supper carousel, slide 1Midsummer Supper carousel, slide 2Midsummer Supper carousel, slide 3Midsummer Supper carousel, slide 4Midsummer Supper carousel, slide 5

carousels · 1080×1350 — concept examples

11 · print

Business cards in the sunMatchbook and slide box
Business card front: the fig cakeBusiness card back, text only
Long Lunch at The Farm menuAperitivo Night menu

menus, events and contact details are concept examples / placeholders

12 · in the wild

Takeaway bagCoasters under glassesMenu on a clipboardTri-fold menu over the seaPastry bag with a croissantStriped tote on a jetty postBerry cordial labelKraft bag

internal preview composites on commercial mockup photography — to be replaced with licensed PSDs before publishing