Andrew Owen Media Design MFA
Full Sail University
Box Park Sushi Brand Logo Rational
The problem that the Box Park Sushi brand project faced was differentiating their logo identity from the current competition to become more prominent in the target audiences' mind. To solve this, several logo concepts were sketched, considered, and subsequently discarded in favor of more viable options. Each logo was based around the brands’ directive words, namely, pioneer, explore, and discover. With these directive words in mind, a few navigational tools and related objects were used as the basis of the considered logos. These tools and objects were as follows: a compass, a map, an astrolabe, a sextant, nature, and various parts of a ship. Following the initial sketches, a review of the efficacy of each object and tool category was conducted.
Logo sketches
Of the logo direction categories, five of the six categories were discarded. The compass concepts were discarded due to the plethora of compass-based logos easily found through an internet search. Additionally, the Box Park Sushi brand required that there be differentiation from existing logo designs to increase the brands’ strength (Aaker, 2003). The map concepts were rejected due to design complexity and lack of scalability (The University of Rhode Island, 2017). The concept of the astrolabe was similarly passed over for its incapability for scalability (Walgrove, 2019), as well as the complicated shapes it contained (“The 12 Rules,” 2010). The nature concept was dismissed and not pursued for not adequately aligning with the brand directive words. Furthermore, the Box Park Sushi brand did not want to be seen as unoriginal (Paul, 2014) or associated with cliché designs (George, 2015). Lastly, the parts of a ship concepts were removed from further development due to its vague relationship to the brand (Ellis, 2020) and unoriginal direction (Paul, 2014).
Refined logos
The sextant design was selected for further development and as the optimal design due to its visual vertical balance (Oberemok, 2020) and its applicable historical representation as a tool for exploring and nautical pioneering (Britannica, 2019). This concept was then refined due to critical feedback that called for the removal of the telescope portion of the sextant and added a compass-like dial at the apex of the tool to represent the index mirror. Additionally, feedback suggested that the graduated arc of the sextant be removed and replaced with the name of the brand and its accompanying tagline.
Final single-colored design
To ensure the accompanying logotypes' typography would be readable and legible from a distance, a sans serif typeface called Eight One for its header and a typeface called Eurofurence Light was selected for the subheader. San Serif was selected as the optimal typeface to use because of its simple cut lines and curves help the logo and brand appear more friendly and approachable (Lavine, 2020).
Local competitors included Kawa Ramen & Sushi and Kin by Rice n Roll. Each one relies on the Japanese art style of Sumi-e (Jacobs, 2012) and can be seen as an abstract sushi roll. This logo direction for Box Park Sushi brand is effective because it does not rely on cliché or over-used logo concepts (George, 2015). Furthermore, the sextant logo concept is effective due to its scalability (The University of Rhode Island, 2017) and simple design elements used in its construction (“The 12 Rules,” 2010). In doing so, this logo differentiated itself from the competitor logos and became prominent in the mind of the target audience.
References
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