Brand build / Signage / Campaign/La Vetta
Turning A Rooftop Into A Destination.
La Vetta sat seven stories above Terza, with indoor and outdoor seating, fireplaces and panoramic views of Rochester. The people now behind Tempo built a distinct identity, signage, menus and campaign system that gave the rooftop its own reason to visit while keeping it connected to the Italian restaurant below.
- Client
- Nova Restaurant Group / La Vetta
- Restaurant context
- Rooftop bar / Downtown Rochester / Opened 2015 / Approximately 120 people
- Historical team roles
- Brand identity, exterior applications, menus, signage, campaign concepts and style guide
- Solutions
- Marketing
- Engagement
- Brand build and launch
- Primary outcome
- More Visible / Distinctive
The restaurant
A Rooftop Sibling With A Personality Of Its Own.
La Vetta opened in 2015 on the seventh floor of H3 Plaza in downtown Rochester. The approximately 120-person lounge paired indoor and outdoor seating with fireplaces, cocktails, small plates and broad views across the city.
Operationally, the rooftop belonged to the same restaurant group and building as Terza. For guests, however, it needed to feel like a destination in its own right: more casual, more atmospheric and centered on the experience of being above the city.
What was happening
The Experience Started Before Guests Reached The Roof.
A rooftop lounge has a built-in advantage once people arrive, but it can be difficult to see and understand from the street. La Vetta also shared a building and operator with an established Italian restaurant, creating a risk that the rooftop would read as an amenity or overflow space rather than a separate experience.
The brand had to create anticipation before the elevator doors opened, make the seventh-floor arrival feel intentional and give guests a clear name and story to remember afterward. Every touchpoint needed to reinforce the same promise without severing the useful connection to Terza.
What we saw
The Name Already Pointed To The Opportunity.
La Vetta means the summit. Paired with the descriptor Bar Nel Cielo—bar in the sky—the language made the rooftop's defining advantage clear before a guest saw the view.
A winged-horse mark, stars, a muted sky-colored palette and a repeating honeycomb pattern turned that idea into a flexible visual world. The system could feel elevated without becoming formal, and Italian without relying on predictable restaurant cues.
What we changed
A Complete Identity Built Around The View.
01 / Brand concept and logo
We developed a compact identity around the rooftop's defining idea. The winged-horse illustration, star details and La Vetta / Bar Nel Cielo lockups gave the concept a recognizable symbol and a direct connection to the sky above Rochester.
02 / Visual system
Soft blue-green, cream, charcoal and warm metallic accents created a calm, atmospheric palette. Circular seals, horizontal lockups and a geometric honeycomb pattern allowed the identity to shift between large environmental moments and compact guest materials.
03 / Arrival and guest materials
The brand moved into the physical visit through glass-wall and exterior signage, cocktail menus, coasters, matchboxes and other details. Each application helped confirm that guests had arrived somewhere distinct from the restaurant below.
04 / Campaign and standards
Campaign concepts such as Elevate Your Spirits translated the rooftop promise into magazine and street-level advertising. A style guide organized the marks, typography, color and pattern so the identity could remain consistent as the lounge launched and evolved.
The identity and the details
The campaign
Food and the menus
How the pieces connected
Every Touchpoint Pointed Up.
- Rooftop positioning
- →Visual identity
- →Street-level awareness
- →Arrival
- →Menus + details
- →Destination recall
The rooftop positioning gave the identity its meaning. Campaign work introduced the promise before guests entered the building. Signage guided the arrival, while menus and small-format details carried the same visual story through the visit. Together, the system made an out-of-sight venue easier to discover, enter and remember.
The impact
The Rooftop Earned Its Own Pull.
La Vetta opened as a distinct rooftop concept rather than simply an extension of Terza. Its name, identity and guest materials gave the approximately 120-person lounge a consistent public face across awareness, arrival and the experience above the city.
Portfolio clarity
A distinct sister concept
La Vetta shared an operator and building with Terza while maintaining its own name, personality and guest promise.
Guest orientation
A recognizable arrival
Campaign work, exterior signage and environmental applications helped make a seventh-floor destination visible from street level.
Brand consistency
One system across the visit
The logo, palette, menus, coasters and signage carried the same rooftop idea from awareness through the guest experience.
Local attention
A downtown destination
Period coverage described La Vetta as a popular rooftop spot, while later operator-led winter activations drew visitors from Minnesota and beyond.
Period coverage later described La Vetta as a popular downtown destination, and winter igloos introduced by the operator drew visitors from across Minnesota and beyond. The identity did not create the panoramic view or those later activations; it gave the rooftop a clear position and visual language people could recognize as a place of its own.
The rooftop in use
Explore More Impact Stories
Build a more profitable restaurant.
Give The Experience A Brand Of Its Own.
When a restaurant adds a rooftop, bar or sister concept, the new experience needs more than a shared address. A clear identity helps guests understand what is different, find their way in and remember why they came.
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