Boxpark Sushi
Logo Design & Brand Guide Development

Initially the problem was in the refinement of the logo concept. Taking simple shapes and empty space the idea was formed to use a Chinese takeout box, which in some aspect is ironic in this scenario, and fill the voids with the actual name. After doing some hand sketching and line drawing with the ruler, I went to the computer to refine the design. After several failed attempts at using hand drawn lettering a system font was placed in for the text. But therein lied the problem, it didn’t feel organic and definitely not unique or memorable. Again I set out with pencil and paper to try again. As a system font was not suitable for the tone and voice of the brand. Doing more research and finding more inspiration for text, overlays, hidden structures, and text logos the hand drawn type was the direction that needed to be taken. Think about how it would be interpreted if initially it was sent to you for review not as the designer (Stevens, 2020). This took the process to making one letter at a time and seeing how not only it fit in the box, but how they fit, or interacted with the letter before and after it. The shapes, how they fit and the custom, organic feel made it far more interesting than that of any system font I could have used.

When done and comparing to other establishments in the area, they would only then compare in services and products. The style, colors, and custom look of the logo using the techniques learned and research gathered along the way completely separated it from the competition and other sushi establishments.

The brand guide had similar problems along the way, as it started out much too simple, and I tried to follow too many elements from the vision board, which was created well before any assets were even to begin concept. After taking the initial sketches and layouts, they were then mocked up in real life scenarios, where you could see how they actually worked and what needed to be tweaked. At this point creative had only been one piece of the the puzzle (Lang, 2020). The execution had to reflect the guide as being a piece of communication, and not thought of as an advertisement for the brand. It still could be creative and designed, but in a way that would tell people how, when and why to use the brand and the assets (Ray, 2019). And even though much could be written about the process involved, what could or should be included, it was important to stick to the essentials, which mostly entailed the visuals of the brand.