Tu Madre

Tu Madre is a cult-hit, non-conventional taco chain in Los Angeles with 8 locations. Their mission is to reinvent the taco using non-traditional ingredients that celebrate the unique culinary scene of LA.

Services

Brand Strategy
Brand Voice
Brand Identity
Packaging Design

Print materials mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

the TRUFFL

More than just a taco stand, Tu Madre stands for the idea that everyone should boldly be themselves, do things their own way,  and shake up the world doing it. As a brand, Tu Madre uses its charisma,  humor, and fearlessness to get people to look at Mexican food differently.

Process

We tasted the full Tu Madre menu, and used our personal vast experience exploring LA’s street taco culture to survey the competition — a tough job but someone has to do it!  We interviewed key principals, customers,  and reviewed yelp reviews and social media concepts. Along the way, we learned that what makes Tu Madre special is a brash, provocative personality and a blend of Mexican and Angeleno culture. 

Food photography for Tu Madre featuring tacos on plate with vibrant pink background, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Food photography for Tu Madre featuring tabletop with plated dishes and bright, vibrant colors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Location photography for Tu Madre featuring neon sign with custom logo along with bright, vibrant colors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Food photography for Tu Madre featuring tabletop with horchata and red velvet churros along with bright, vibrant colors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Food photography for Tu Madre featuring tabletop with plated dishes and bright, vibrant colors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Location photography for Tu Madre featuring neon sign with custom logo along with bright, vibrant colors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Food photography for Tu Madre featuring tacos on plate on vibrant pink tabletop, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

Brand Strategy

Our key insight allowed us to build a provocative brand that would both shock, amuse and charm customers with a maverick and brash brand personality.  

We infused the brand with a deeper purpose behind that personality as well. Tu Madre is provacative not just to get attention, but to encourage each of its customers to embrace their uniqueness and fearlessly share it with the world. 

Food photography for Tu Madre featuring tabletop with chips and guacamole along with bright, vibrant colors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

Brand Identity

Tu Madre’s visual concept is built upon our brand positioning that combined Mexican culture and Angeleno culture. We found a common ethos in bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, so we used custom illustrations, typography and more to create a unique visual langauge that blended the two cultures seamlessly.  

Truffl-Tu Madre-branding-seal
Typography palette for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Business card mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

Illustrations

Our custom illustrations blended menu items like tacos, along with luchadors and hip hop artists as part of branded seals, packaging, menu design and more.

Collateral mockups for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Food photography for Tu Madre featuring tacos on plate with vibrant pink background, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

Packaging

We designed key packaging items and menus that showcased not only different elements of our brand identity but also key messaging meant to surprise and amuse. For example, our burrito and taco wraps invites customers to "Swipe Right On Tacos" as they unwrap their food.

Burrito packaging mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Takeaway packaging mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Cup mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Menu mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

Verbal Identity

As an unconvential taco brand appealing to an in-the-know millennnial audience, our verbal identity featured a provocative and humorous personality designed to create Instagram-worthy moments on social media, apparel, packaging and throughout restuarant interiors. 

Layout design for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Location photography for Tu Madre featuring outdoor seating along with bright, vibrant colors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world inspired by Mexican and Angeleno culture, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Layout design for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Neon sign mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

Merchandise & Collateral

We conceptualized of-the-moment, Instagrammable merchandise and apparel that feature key messaging such as “Oaxaca on the Wild Side” and “Guac Daddy.”

Shirt mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Shirt mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Shirt mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Hat mockup for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency
Layout design for Tu Madre tacos restaurant, featuring a brand identity system inspired by bragadocious West Coast hip hop stars and traditional Mexican luchadors, demonstrating an amusing and surprising visual world, designed by TRUFFL branding agency

As the third brand I have done with TRUFFL, I trusted the agency implicitly to rebrand Tu Madre. As our most valuable brand in our restaurant group, we would not have used any other partner other than TRUFFL and gave them free reign on all aspects of the brand. Their ability to deeply understand our company’s ethos helped them truly captured what I had hoped for but could not articulate myself. And they did so with personality and humor that truly makes Tu Madre special and unique. I feel we now have a brand identity that can help us take Tu Madre across the country and am immensely grateful to the TRUFFL Team.

Josh Pourgol, Founder 

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