Fuku (no sniggering on the again please) is a ‘high-quality brining institution’ – i.e. some type of eatery, you possibly can safely assume – specialising in a selected kind of rooster ‘sando’, or in regular language, ‘sandwich’.
In accordance with Crimson Antler, the Brooklyn primarily based design company behind Fuku’s branding, ‘the Fuku sando first hit the scene as a secret menu merchandise at David Chang’s Momofuku Noodle Bar within the East Village, spiralling into such a spicy sensation, it received its very personal restaurant: Fuku’. It’s not 100% clear from the web site if Fuku has a selected bricks and mortar web site, however it appears to be a type of multipronged sandwich idea promoting stated ‘sandos’ at varied sports activities and music venues throughout the US, from NY’s Madison Sq. Gardens to Miami’s Arduous Rock Stadium to Baltimore, Vegas, LA and extra.
Crimson Antler labored throughout the Fuku model technique, model identification, UX design, artwork course, packaging, retail ideas, and go to market technique; describing its aim as evolving the Fuku model ‘in a means that celebrated its roots within the culinary scene and paid homage to its no-frills method to good meals’.
There’s lots to love about Crimson Antler’s branding for Fuku; and but there are additionally so many questions – not least, when did individuals begin saying ‘sando’? One other is the selection of emblem – maybe it’s as a result of it’s been greater than 25 years since I’ve eaten meat however I can’t get my head round an icon depicting an precise rooster (albeit a silhouetted cartoon one) in a burger bun. However then what do I do know: at the least the icon displays the no-frills, hyper-confidence of the remainder of the model identification – even when it’s a bit on the nostril.
And at last, a number of the copy has actually received me scratching my head – maybe it’s misplaced in translation, maybe I simply don’t get it – just like the ‘high-quality brining’, which to me, feels prefer it’s a pickle parlour. And the ‘take it or take it’ tagline… Yeh, no thought.
On a far much less confused observe, I like the selection of typefaces right here: the branding mixes and matches two fonts from the ever-brilliant Montreal-based kind foundry Pangram Pangram: the sans PP Neue Montreal, billed as a flexible grotesque ‘with the spirit of a show font’, and PP Proper Serif, a multifaceted workhorse of a font.
And the marketing campaign artwork course is excellent: the editorial-leaning, no-nonsense flash pictures works fantastically: it feels actually dynamic, thrilling – it sweeps you up in a really New York at nighttime vibe that’s irresistibly charming.
The wordmark itself is first rate, utilizing easy Akzidenz-Grotesk BQ Condensed, which works rather well utilized to issues like signage (I like the 3D cubes of the exterior stacked signal proven within the case research). In accordance with Crimson Antler, the font was chosen as a nod to the typography discovered on awnings throughout downtown Manhattan; and a lot of the model does the entire NYC factor brilliantly.
So many components listed here are sturdy, however at instances it might really feel just like the identification is all reaching a little bit too exhausting in the direction of ‘cool’: there’s hell of lots happening right here, and at instances, that leaves it feeling as if it’s a bit, effectively, determined to be favored.
Take the stickers factor for instance: it’s a good sufficient idea, however I’m not completely offered on the execution – it feels a bit sloppy in locations type of phoned in, greedy at some type of Gen X slackerish skater-bro cool factor the place it didn’t actually need to.
All that’s to say that there’s little question the branding works in the way in which it must – particularly on menus, which combine the unflinching pictures type and wonderful typography selections. It’s an excellent full of life identification – unwaveringly evocative of its NYC dwelling, and it’s loads of enjoyable – for individuals who can abdomen a little bit strolling rooster in a bun, that’s.
