The first thing Joyride Pizza founder Jesse Jacobs asked me was, “Do you remember your first bite of pizza?” This led to a conversation retracing childhood memories layered with cheese and pepperoni and the universal power pizza has to bring joy to people of all ages.

The founders had already settled on a different name, but I asked if they would consider exploring further options together. As we spoke more about the project, Jesse confidently proclaimed “I want our pizza to give people a feeling of joy.” As we soon discovered, the name they would eventually land on was already a big part of Jesse’s intentions behind the project.

Detroit Pizza was developed in 1946 at Buddy's Rendezvous. The restaurant baked the pizza in steel pans available from local automotive suppliers. These trays were made in the 1940s to be used as drip trays or to hold small parts or scrap metal in automobile factories.

We loved the idea of taking some influence from Detroit Pizza’s MoTown roots, but we wanted to push the brand beyond an automotive theme and into something that felt more authentic to a California experience. The idea of zipping over the hills of San Francisco or the countryside of West Sonoma on the back of a motorcycle conveyed the sense of freedom and joy we were looking for.

We paired that with a brand aesthetic that would evoke a classic pizza eating experience from an era of faux wood-paneled dining rooms with brightly colored laminated booths. Where families chowed down on hot slices while the 8-bit sounds of arcade machines, laughter, and classic rock music blared together.

We reached out to our friend and talented designer, Sam O'Brien, out of Austin, to collaborate with us on this project. His appreciation for timeless vintage design, quirky illustrations, and clever taglines was the perfect match for our shared vision for the project.