Design Case Study: Reborn. Identity for a Restaurant.

Branding is not the absolute synonym of design: it should present an insightful strategy to lay the foundation of success for a product or company. To work well, all the elements of the brand image have to support each other consistently and give users or buyers instant messages about the benefits. And design presents the fruitful soil for this goal, giving the brand its face and dressing it elegantly.

We have already shared case studies with the stories of creating logos and brand identity concepts for Ribbet, Passfold, Tubik, Saily, SwiftyBeaver, and Andre. This time we have prepared a new story about creating the identity for an innovative self-service Chinese restaurant. This design project was brought into life by Tubik designer Denys Boldyriev.

Project

Create branding identity for an automated, self-service Chinese restaurant Reborn.

Process

Logo design

One of the key elements in branding is the logo: it usually presents the basis of all the further visual identity solutions. As the designer explored concepts around healthy eating, futurism as a part of brand image and marketing strategy, and this restaurant’s unique approach to food service, the image of a red ribbon emerged at the stage of the creative search. The implementation of the ribbon as the initial letter of the restaurant name expresses all of these ideas and ties them together with a traditional Chinese color palette. The first ideas were visualized in the quick pencil sketches to catch the possible silhouette of the future logo.

In fact, right from the beginning, the basic issue was agreed upon: the main part of the logo harmonic for this case was a lettermark presented in a special symbolic form. At the next step, the client was provided with a set of options showing the extended version – the combination of a logo with the lettering for a full brand name.

Through the iterations, the final variant of the lettermark was constructed and polished to get a harmonic and elegant silhouette.

So, the final Reborn logo is a combination mark that consists of the lettermark and custom lettering for the brand name. The core logo symbol presents the first letter of the company name for better brand awareness. The overall look of the symbol reflects the form an inseparable silk ribbon featuring the slight movement which portrays the main brand philosophy – bringing in the modern way of automated ordering food in the restaurant industry and setting the link between traditions of healthy food and innovations. The chosen style gives the visual idea of elegant and simple form reflecting the core benefits of the product. The letter is easily associated with both the brand name and the word “restaurant” showing the kind of service.

The design of the lettering part was focused on readability on different services and sizes. It keeps visual harmony and consistency with the logo symbol. Both parts can be efficiently used together as well as separately which gives flexibility for various marketing needs.

Below, you can see what the logo looked like the app icon. The simple and effective contrast of red as a logo color and white as a background worked well for sign recognizability on a variety of devices and in different sizes.

Color, style, and background variants of the logo allow for flexible use, including on print materials. The client was offered several effective color combinations.

Branded items

After approving and testing the logo, the next task was to design a set of basic branded items that would support the visual identity concept. Among them,  the designer worked on business cards. The dynamic ribbon element for the business cards communicates the brand’s focus on a healthy lifestyle.

Simplified and stylized, the brand logo creates a minimalist aesthetic suitable for envelopes and other mailing materials. Consistent with the overall design concept, the unique layout of the letterhead reinforces the futuristic sensibility of the brand. The client also asked for slide templates that would allow them easily to create company presentations that adhere to brand guidelines.

Another object of design effort was a brand sticker.  Now stylish and catchy stickers have become a popular and quick way of spreading a word about the brand and strengthening brand awareness. Two sticker options were designed for this purpose: one featured only the lettermark while the other showed the full version of the logo.

The client was also provided with a full set of guidelines for logo and identity use, including color palettes, fonts, and placement. Practice shows that the guidelines play a strategic role for the brand development: all the further contributors to this process will get clear instructions about correct and wrong ways to use the graphics created for this brand. The document included several sections and informed about the idea which became the basis of a logo, its structure and specifications, color, and monochrome versions which could be used for different purposes. Also, it showed examples of incorrect usage in order to avoid poor visual performance. In addition, all the branded items created for this project were included in the guidelines and described in detail.

If you want to know more about creative stages of the design process for logos, welcome to read our free e-book “Logo Design”. Don’t miss the updates here, new case studies on branding, web and mobile design are coming soon!

Useful Reading

Creative Stages of Logo Design

The Role of Branding in UI Design

6 Creative Stages of Design for Branding

Identity Design: 5 Basic Types of Logos

How to Use the Power of Mascots in Branding and UI Design

Originally written for Tubik Blog