Simi Valley Food Branding & Website Design Portfolio
Kinship Creative + Smokin’ Mike’s BBQ & Meal Prep
Smokin’ Mike’s needed a bold, easy-to-navigate website that could bring its BBQ catering, weekly meal prep, event services and online ordering together in one cohesive place. The goal was to create a dark, memorable food brand that reflected authentic barbecue and family connection, without relying on the predictable flames, rustic wood and overly masculine clichés commonly seen in BBQ branding.
Project Goals
Smokin’ Mike’s had several strong offerings, but customers needed a simpler way to understand what was available, place meal-prep orders and inquire about catering. The client wanted to streamline the menu, clarify the brand’s specialty and create a more efficient ordering experience for customers throughout Simi Valley and Ventura County.
The project included a custom five-page Wix Studio website, Square online ordering setup, a mini brand kit, custom menu design and strategic business consulting. Every element needed to support the same goal: make it easier for customers to discover Smokin’ Mike’s, understand its services and confidently order food or book BBQ catering for an upcoming event.
Creative Solution
Kinship Creative created a custom food website that gives Smokin’ Mike’s a strong, recognizable digital presence while keeping the customer journey clear and uncomplicated. The new Wix Studio website organizes the company’s BBQ catering, meal-prep services, events and ordering information so customers can quickly find the right option and take the next step.
We integrated Square for online ordering and structured the system to support weekly meal prep, catering, event orders and meal customization. The menu and ordering process were simplified to reduce customer confusion, highlight the brand’s most profitable services and make ongoing updates easier for the business.
The visual direction pairs dark, moody colors with bold typography, authentic food photography and warmer details that communicate family, connection and quality. The result is a distinctive BBQ website and food brand that feels established, approachable and entirely specific to Smokin’ Mike’s.
CUSTOM FIVE-PAGE WIX EDITOR WEBSITE DESIGN
A responsive five-page Wix Editor website designed for Smokin’ Mike’s BBQ catering and meal-prep services. The website features clear service paths, mobile-friendly navigation, strategic calls to action and direct access to Square online ordering.
FOOD BRANDING SUPPORT & DESIGN
A custom mini brand kit built around the client’s existing logo, with a dark color palette, distinctive typography and supporting visual direction. The refreshed identity gives Smokin’ Mike’s a consistent look across its website, menus, ordering platform and marketing materials.
SQUARE E-COMMERCE & ONLINE ORDERING SETUP
A streamlined Square ordering system for weekly meal prep, individual meals, catering, events and meal customization. The updated structure makes ordering easier for customers while giving Smokin’ Mike’s a more manageable way to organize and promote its food offerings.
BUSINESS & MARKETING CONSULTING
Strategic consulting helped Smokin’ Mike’s clarify its target audience, refine its specialty and prioritize the services with the strongest opportunities for growth. Together, we evaluated its menu, offerings, ordering process and customer experience to create a clearer path toward increasing catering inquiries and repeat meal-prep orders.
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL FOOD BRANDING & WEBSITE DESIGN
We absolutely loved working with Kinship Creative on our butcher shop's branding and new website design. She shows a genuine passion for her particular craft. There are endless choices for your marketing needs these days, but Kari is grounded on a level that most of her competitors are not. Give her a call today!
-Mike Smith, owner of Smokin' Mikes
*Please note - this website was designed for our client but is not on our optional monthly maintenance plan. We do not regularly monitor the site for errors or updates. In addition, the client has full access and may have made some changes. Please feel free to view the live site, but know that our final product is displayed above in screenshots.
Dark, Moody Branding for Ventura County BBQ Catering & Meal Prep
Smokin’ Mike’s brand kit was designed to work seamlessly with the company’s pre-existing logo while giving the overall brand a more unique and professional identity. Kinship Creative developed a dark and moody color palette, bold font pairings and a consistent visual direction that reflects authentic barbecue, handcrafted food and family connection.
The creative direction uses rich colors, subtle textures and mouthwatering food imagery to create a brand that feels confident, memorable and genuine. The finished identity gives Smokin’ Mike’s a cohesive foundation for its Wix website, Square ordering platform, menus, catering materials and future marketing.
This Simi Valley food branding project demonstrates how professional branding can transform an existing logo into a complete, recognizable customer experience. It is also an example of Kinship Creative’s custom website design, restaurant branding and online ordering support for BBQ companies, caterers, meal-prep businesses and independent food brands throughout Simi Valley, Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Santa Barbara.
