A fresh brand redesign bringing playful energy and authenticity to a local sushi favorite.
tokyo hon sushi
March 2020
1 month
Role: brand Designer
Context
Brand Refresh
A bold rebrand that sets Tokyo Hon Sushi apart through playful visuals and modern charm. We’ll start by identifying what wasn’t working in the original branding to build a fresher, more distinctive identity.
Old Logo Design
Areas for Improvement —
The original branding lacked cohesion, personality, and visual clarity, missing the opportunity to reflect the restaurant’s vibrant spirit and authentic offerings.
Brush Stroke font
Overuse and seen within many sushi restaurant logos making them not stand out among other restaurant in the market.
website (OLD Version)
Typeface
Relying on the same brush stroke font for all text created readability issues, especially in longer body copy.
Menu (OLD Version)
Overwhelming Density
Items are tightly packed together, especially under the "Appetizer" and "Classic Rolls" sections, which makes the menu feel cramped.
Poor Hierarchy
No clear visual distinction between section titles, item names, and descriptions.
Color Usage
The color contrast between the black, red, and blue feels jarring and lacks visual harmony, making the menu harder to navigate.
Observations —
Additional observations to consider for the upcoming rebrand such as environmental factors just as the store itself and the area it is located in.
Interior & Exterior
The red used in both the logo and store design ties back to the Japanese flag, creating a strong cultural connection throughout the interior and exterior branding.
Problems
Design with Purpose
Research and observation uncovered the following key challenges to address in the rebrand.
Weak Brand Personality
The design lacks a clear identity and fails to leave a memorable, cohesive impression.
Poor Navigation
Lack of clear hierarchy makes it difficult to scan items and navigate the site or menu.
Limited Accessibility
Font sizes and contrast may not meet accessibility standards.
Challenge
Rebrand the restaurant by creating a memorable and cohesive brand identity that improves visual clarity and enhances the customer experience.
Design process
Design Principles
Design principles applied throughout the design process.
Visual Hierarchy
Use font sizes, weights, spacing, and layout to create a clear structure that prioritizes what users need to see first.
Navigation & Scannability
Structure the site and menu so customers can quickly find what they’re looking for.
Brand Expression
Make sure the brand has a strong tone, colors, typography, and imagery reflect the restaurant’s identity
Brand Consistency
Use a cohesive color palette, type system, and visual style across the brand. Building recognition and trust, especially across menus, signage, and digital platforms.
Project timeline
Introducing
Tokyo Hon Sushi
The redesigned introduces a playful mascot, bold typography, and a vibrant color palette—creating a fun, nostalgic identity that feels approachable, memorable, and uniquely Tokyo Sushi.
Primary Logo (new)
Secondary Logo (new)
Key Updates —
Rebrand updates addressed usability issues, streamlined user flows, and improved brand visual consistency—creating a more memorable, cohesive experience.
Strong Brand Personality
The primary logo features a playful mascot and the slogan “Okawari Kudasai” (“More please”), creating a fun and inviting brand presence across key touchpoints.
Logo Flexibility
The secondary logo offers a flexible alternative to the primary mark, allowing for versatile brand application.
Modern Yet Nostalgic Feel
The cartoon style and bold font bring a retro charm with a modern twist, appealing to a wide audience.
Typefaces —
Three typefaces were selected to maintain consistency while allowing flexibility across various design applications
Futura
The sharp and uniform anatomy of Futura gives structure and modern even when shrunken down which is great for small text on menus.
凸版文久見出しゴシック エクストラボールド
This typeface shares Futura’s modern sharpness, but its rounded edges add a playful, friendly touch—making it a fitting subheader pairing for the slogan.
Muli
This minimalistic sans serif is used as body text for web formatting and menu. It’s simplicity is great for readability and pairs well with Futura.
Colors —
The limited color palette ensures bold, recognizable branding. Here is the rationale behind each color choice.
Red-Orange
The red-orange reflects the building and Japanese roots
Blue
Blue serves as a complementary accent to the red-orange, bringing visual balance and a sense of trust.
Muli
A beige off-white tone was selected to evoke a soft, vintage aesthetic.
Brand Extensions —
Brand extensions showcase how the identity translates across various mediums—from apparel and menus to digital platforms.
Menu (new)
Clear Hierarchy
Better alignment, clear hierarchy, and clean spacing create structure and balance, significantly improving readability.
Staff Apparel
Coasters
Takeout Bags
Considerations
Designing For Everyone
Here are a few accessibility-focused improvements that were explored and applied to create a smoother, more inclusive experience for everyone.
Color Contrast
Text and icons contrast well against their backgrounds, improving legibility for users with low vision or color blindness.
Simple, Legible Fonts
A clean sans-serif fonts improves legibility even at small sizes and help reduce reading fatigue.
Minimal Clutter
The use of white space and clean layout reduce visual noise, aiding users with cognitive or visual processing challenges.
Reflection
Project Takeaways
Limited color palette
A limited color palette can be powerful when used thoughtfully for contrast, recognition, and emotional tone.
Rebranding
This project allowed me to explore and decipher what design is working and what isn’t and keep the necessary components to better adapt existing brands.
final notes
Lessons Learned
Through this project, I enjoyed exploring the power of color in shaping brand recognition, the importance of versatile logos across formats, and how to respectfully evolve an existing identity to stay competitive in the fast-paced, visually driven food industry.
