fujimoto

This project was created for a local Japanese restaurant in Lexington, North Carolina. Fujimoto was in need of an update to their menu & website. The business expressed that they wanted a modern approach to its branding, which would consist of a new brand overall. While working alongside of another graphic designer, Manisa Vongnalath, we developed a more modern Fujimoto.

beginning

This task initially began as a brief logo redesign for a class project. I took it upon myself to design a logo for Fujimoto, as there wasn’t any design standards for the restaurant to branch off with.

When prototyping the logo, I was considering to make it simplistic and quirky. Since Fujimoto is a Japanese inspired restaurant, I wanted the logo to show some pride over their main dish - sushi. Fujimoto is known for their authentic and delicious sushi, so I decided to combine the two and make it work visually.

In my first prototype of the Fujimoto logo, I tried to manipulate the letters to create a sushi roll. Although it’s very quirky, it did not achieve my goal at first glance as I’d hope it would. The logo looked more like iconography, rather than a logo. For non-designers, …and some designers, it’s very hard to even realize that the logo is made out of letters.

Building off of the prototype, I searched for ways to make the logo seem more sushi-like. Making lines more organic, slowly moving away from a simplistic style.

what’s next

Coincidentally, after going through the whole process of making a mockup for a project, The founder of Fujimoto Sushi & Hibachi retires and passes ownership to a new team. This new team wished for Fujimoto to have some colors and modernize. They reached out to Manisa Vongnalath and I to be the designers that will help them find a creative solution to their issue.

fter discussions with the client and showing them what I’ve already accomplished, we figured a direction that they would like to go in:

  • They defined “modern” logos as simple, yet meaningful; also mentioned that they wish to utilize it to brand their merch.

  • They wished for a logo that would work on apparels, clothing, and menus.

  • They wanted to show pride in what they do. They are a sushi restaurant that serve amazing sushi.

With that, I went to cook.

iterations

I hunkered down and went through several iterations to capture their vision. I circled around the idea of staying true to home, looking through iterations of what Mt. Fuji looks like and how others have designed themselves under that name. I learned that it’s common for a Mt. Fuji logos to have a red element in the background. Although a bright color, it welcomes attentions more than it steals it. I played with this idea, tried to mimic previous logos and expand off of it.

After pitching these prototypes to our client, they were enjoying the direction it’s going; however, I noticed that I strayed too far away from home. Our client favored the prototype that I pitched in the beginning as it represents their main dish; with that said, I focused too much on “staying true to home” that I lost all the fish. So I went back to the drawing board and figured out a way to combine the two.

final

Finally, after several alterations and critiques, we ended with our final logo.

I found the middle line between the class project with Mt. Fuji. Making the mountain as the center piece of the sushi makes it appear like a roll at first glance. With a closer look, a viewer would recognize within the roll is Mt. Fuji. Therefore, bringing us to the Fujimoto roll.

For the logotype, I went for a simple sans serif font. Dosis is a very minimal and tall font, which the client loved very much. I decided to single out the “i” in Fujimoto because it is a very minimalistic representation of Mt. Fuji and the beautiful red sun behind it.