Kintaro Sushi is a new arrival to the extremely competitive sushi train format of restaurants in Adelaide. We were engaged to develop a logo and overarching brand identity that would visually differentiate the chain from major competitors in the space, while appealing to a young audience.

Sushi’s biggest appeal is with young, design-savvy audiences. Aiming to appeal to this demographic, we developed a strong, memorable and fashionable logo and overarching brand identity. The logo takes the form of a minimalistic fish, derived from an upper-case “K” and inspired by the formation of Japanese alphabet characters.

The fish icon has been implemented in a trendy fluoro-salmon and black colour palette and, in turn, manages to reflect the business name, the sushi product offering and its Japanese heritage in one simple icon.

This foundation has been playfully implemented into the broader brand identity and built environment. We developed a pattern mimicking a trawler’s net, giving the appearance of the logo being today’s catch on the shop front signage. The logo also extends into a school of fish, providing an effective pattern and texture for use throughout the restaurants. The icon was carried through to the smallest of touch points, including the plates which arrive with the icon appearing as a piece of fish already placed in their centre.

We worked closely with the client to manage the implementation of the brand identity into its pilot store and are now working with the client on a planned multi-site roll out.