Umami Restaurant branding was a school project several years ago, one which was rather last-minute portfolio filler, but still turned out nice and I am still proud of.
My favourite? The menu. The design itself is simple enough (though I love the idea of printing fresh sheets on textured, handmade paper) but the dishes themselves… I had a lot of fun finding random menu items for my mockup.
Just listen to these:
Yellowfin Tuna Trio
Tempura tuna nori rolls, tuna involtini w. red onion salad,
tuna tartare w. avocado, roasted peppers, ginger & lime
Lobster Salad
Lobster, crab meat, cucumber, caviar & Japanese mayo
on organic spring greens
Beef Tataki
Lightly grilled tenderloin, green onions, chef’s own sauce
tempura fried black sesame avocado
Sushi Cone Trio
Fresh ahi tuna w, spring onion, spiced mayo, Freshwater eel
w. avocado and papaya, crispy fried crab and wasabi mayo
Hot and Sour Lobster Bisque
Pureé of lobster, chili cream, layered spice oil
Some of these I made up, some I found on various food/restaurant websites. Either way, I was pretty hungry for Japanese fusion the entire time I was working on this project. And I’d love to do another restaurant or cafe branding project soon…
Above: the branding. The logo fuses western typography with brushwork, and the stationary uses handmade paper reminiscent of rice paper and nori. The name itself is a Japanese word for a fifth sense of taste.
