For the branding, I was inspired by the bold, chaotic, and graphic signs that cover Dotonbori, Osaka. Osaka is often called “the food capital of Japan,” so it seemed only fitting to use it as inspiration for a restaurant serving delicious, authentic Japanese street food in an urban setting. 

The goal was to create branding that captures a sense of the dense, layered, maximalist Japanese street energy present in Dotonbori and Shinjuku alleyways where the spaces are filled with crowds wandering under a canopy of competing stacked signage, lots of neon, and oversized 3D mascot signs like the iconic giant angry chef mascot of Kushikatsu Daruma. It’s sensory overload in the best way that’s truly palpable when you are there. With the logo, I wanted to reference the big, bold kanji and katakana lettering that is found all over the signage in Dotonbori.

To make sure the design didn’t get too overwhelming, I went with a minimal color palette of black and white with pops of bright red. This meant I could still capture the bold, graphic essence of the street signage without things being too much.