March 17, 2005
senior thesis
so this is the logo for my senior thesis. (and an excerpt from my lettter of proposal so u can understand what i am doing) it's an asian restaurant/bar called mandai. comments please!
"For my Senior Thesis project I propose to execute an identity campaign for the new restaurant “Mandai.” The restaurant is a hip and trendy Asian restaurant/bar located in downtown New York City. Mandai is a restaurant/bar that serves college students and local professionals. The menu is pricey and the bar is competitive with other local bars offering a more high-class nightlife experience.
Lunch will market primarily to local business through take out and delivery. Mandai’s lunch menu features their fresh Asian salads, soup, and tea as well as sandwiches, wraps, and other hot items.
In the evenings, the restaurant becomes a lively night scene serving as both wet bar and sushi bar. The bar will serve mixed drinks, beer, wine, and sake. The sushi bar will serve all kinds of Japanese sushi from basic California rolls to Futomaki and Unagi. The menu for the night will also include large entrées and appetizers. All the food will be hip and fresh.
Along with the bar, one of the main attractions is live music. Mandai will feature local bands during the week and feature widely known bands on weekends.
The identity campaign’s goal is to brand the new restaurant as the hippest place in town: fresh, clean, and trendy. Mandai wants to reflect New York’s energy while incorporating an Asian influenced design. "
The good news: I love the flower icon. Really, really love it. The colors are great, and it has a caligraphy feel to it, without being generically Asian.
The bad news: Its placement makes your logo read "Mandair."
I would also work on making the M feel a little more connected to the rest of the word. It feels a little out of place.
And now some thoughts that have nothing to do with design - but rather with your restaurant's concept:
1. No matter what time of day, an Asian restaurant in Manhattan will ALWAYS have sushi.
2. Most college students don't go to places where "the menu is pricey." They'd rather to go to Down The Hatch (http://www.nycbestbars.com/DTH.htm). I'd stick to young professionals. Those people tend to spend like there's no tomorrow.
ditto
love the mark, but it becomes an r
and work on the kerning in the word so that it holds together and nothing looks funny, like angie said the m is a bit disconnected.
i'm excited to see more on this
Posted by: winslow at March 20, 2005 02:05 AMthanks angie for the comments, especially about the bar situation in NY. (ive only been there 3 times and all i went to was plays and museums) so getting the inside scoop really helps!
as for the mark i was hoping that the color change would help prevent it from becoming a letterform. i will work with it. thanks for the comments both of you! you will see more later.
maybe if the mark wasn't quite so r like, or any letter for that matter you could get away with it, although i think it might always get interpreted as an 'L' or if its size relationship separated it, something has to separate it, and color's not doing it.
Posted by: winslow at March 21, 2005 11:37 AM