In this Brief we have been asked to produce a series of logos for a company of our choice, the company has to be an international brand and have stores up and down the UK and the world. The company has to also be a brand that you think should be redesigned as the exciting logo either doesn't fit the brand or could be improved on. I began this project thinking about various companies that I felt would be interesting and a good platform to build on. I went to Trinity shopping centre to see a large variety of different company's and analyse different aspects of their image and company ethics and what makes each company individual. I tried to keep an open mind when doing my research and looked at different branding and thought about what worked well and weather it was designed in the appropriate context.

Looking around Trinity I saw brands like Adidas, Primark, Wasabi, Waterstones, Yo! Sushi and Wagamama's. After thinking about each company I felt that Yo! Sushi had a lot of room for improvement the company logo seems a little dated and slightly eligible and it would make perfect fit for a redesign. I wanted to explore the branding for Yo! Sushi as extensively as i could and also look at some other examples of leading sushi companies and see how there graphics looks and the different aesthetics that come across from there branding and identity.

Looking at the current Yo Sushi Logo I felt it seemed like it really needed to be redesigned. the letter forms are too hard to read, it doesn't read or flow very well and from a far it doesn't stand out like it should. The colouring is extremely bright this has been done to draw the attention of the viewer and reflect some typically punchy Japanese advertising. The typography is has been designed to show aspects of japanese writing in the two S's and the U. I really think this idea of creating a combination of Japanese and English is something I would love to try and emulate to better effect. The square logo is the more recognisable brand as it is seen on many different mediums. I did some research into the Yo! Sushi company to understand some important aspects of the brand that would help inform my designs. The company was formed in 1997 in by a English entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe in Soho London and quickly became the leading restaurant in the sushi industry. They were the first catering group to use the Food Standard Industry traffic light system that became very popular and makes up the small plate colours that represent different foods and prices that are still used today. There has been Yo! Sushi stores opened all around the world from Washington D.C to Saudi Arabia it is a really global brand so I feel have to create a design that can be transferable across lots of different languages and cultures.

 

These examples of branding used by Yo! sushi on their menu's posters and interactive designs the designs are very playful and fun a real emphasis on bright fun colours. They use mainly flat graphics and you can see the use of the coloured dishes in there designs throughout. this is something I would like to really play around with whether it is using the dish colouring for my typography or incorporating the actual dishes as a part of the typography.








The sushi restaurant itself has a colourful and open plan design. It is famous for its traditional Kaiten conveyor belt that the food moves on. This is one of the key aspects of the company and is very unique in the market because of this I think it would very important to look into this in my designs and see how I can show the sushi conveyor belt into my designs. There is a real sense of freshness in the restaurant and this is imperative as sushi must be served fresh everything is clean matte white with small flashes of colour again this would be interesting to work into my designs to try and show the logo in reflection to the interior of the restaurant. In the restaurant I picked up some leaflets and menu's and scanned them in I want to look at how they have designed them to try and get a sense for there design identity and things that repeat throughout.

 

You can see a clear brand identity throughout these different works with exception to the Japan holiday all are black with white text, use San Serif and very rounded typeface and incorporate the dish colour pallet throughout the work this has been done to build up a distinct brand identity and so if you see any designs for Yo! Sushi you can tell straight away without having to see the logo. I think the black background really makes the brighter colours come to life and pop out from the page. The use of type tho however on the "Hot ...or Not' for me is too jumbled about and not readable enough in my opinion and could either be more subtle or be arranged differently. The use of photographed sushi in fairly random places across the page gives it a fun and child friendly feel thus not being to strict in its designs and trying to open up its target market to a younger audience. You can see the use of the square logo in the bottom right of every design to once again try and keep a constant throughout the designs. I think for my designs I want to create a logo that will work in a very large range of styles and still be read and recognised.

 Next steps I feel in this project would be to firstly look into the Wasabi sushi restaurant and see how there branding is different and what works well and what doesn't. Then find some designers work I feel reflects this project and see how they have used both Japanese writing and English in tangent and what techniques they used effectively. Then finally begin to create some initial designs using everything I have learn so far in regards to this project.