Building a playful pizza brand around a name with four personalities.
Client
Rex Pizza
Year
2022
Rex Pizza is a neighbourhood takeaway pizzeria in Mississauga, Canada, serving students, late-night diners and a local crowd looking for something quick, familiar and memorable.
The challenge wasn't simply to make another pizza brand. It was to create an identity that could compete in a crowded takeaway market and give people something to remember beyond the food itself.
The name Rex — Latin for King — became the starting point. Instead of treating it as just a name, we turned it into a character-driven brand world that could be loud, playful and endlessly adaptable.
Scope of Work
Rather than relying on the familiar visual language of flames, chef hats, and Italian clichés, we built an identity around the restaurant's name itself.
"Rex" is Latin for King.
That single insight became the foundation for an entire brand universe.
Instead of creating a single mascot, we developed a cast of four illustrated characters inspired by the different meanings of the word Rex.
Rex (The King): The face of the brand. Loud, confident and unapologetically obsessed with pizza. He's always convinced his slice is the best in town.
Rex-ona (The Queen): The composed counterpart to the King. She keeps the kingdom together and adds warmth and hospitality to the brand.
Rex Jr. (The Prince): Inspired by the owner's son, Rex Jr. represents curiosity and the next generation of the family business. Playful, energetic and always the first to try something new.
T-Rex (The Pet): The wildcard. Forever hungry, slightly chaotic, and capable of finishing an entire pizza before anyone else gets a slice. Perfect for playful social media moments and merchandise.
We kept the illustration rough and slightly imperfect so it would feel more like something you'd find on a pizza box or sticker than a polished corporate logo. That roughness became an important part of the identity.
We didn't want the characters to only live inside the logo. They were designed to work independently across social media, packaging, merchandise and other parts of the brand. The same drawing style, colours and rough textures keep everything connected, even when the characters are doing completely different things.
The main red, #F13440, became the most recognisable part of the identity. Rex Pizza is based in Mississauga, where the winters can be long, cold and grey. We wanted the brand to feel like the opposite of that — warm, energetic and full of life.
The red also naturally connects to the feeling of hot pizza fresh from the oven. We paired it with black and warm off-whites to keep the colour bold without making everything feel too loud.
We wanted the physical applications to feel just as playful as the identity itself. The oversized “PIZZA KING” on the T-shirt turns something as simple as staff clothing into part of the brand.
The takeaway bag brings the character and logo into the customer’s hands, making the brand feel like a natural part of the takeaway experience.
