BOXPARK SUSHI
Boxpark Sushi is a Media Design MFA project. The project's goal was to develop a distinctive brand for a sushi restaurant located in East Side Milwaukee.
Boxpark Sushi was developed as a brand for a new sushi restaurant at East Side Milwaukee. Therefore, the brand's main problem was to succeed and differentiate itself on an already established market with plenty of competition. The first step taken on the development process was the direction of research on the brand's competition. Acquiring good knowledge of the brand's competitors was imperative in order to uncover trends within the East Side Milwaukee sushi restaurant market and developing unique design solutions. The research revealed a trend on the use of cliche imagery and iconography related to sushi, like fish and chopsticks. The colors red and black were also oversaturated the market.
The second step taken was the use of Market segmentation strategies to identify a target audience within the population of East Side Milwaukee. Demographic segmentation revealed that East Side Milwaukee had a high population of young adults, making them a strong target audience. Psychographic segmentation was developed through population and location research. The East Side is one of Milwaukees nightlife hubs; and due to its proximity to the University of Wisconsin it was determined that many of the residents were probably social, adventurous, and young.
The Boxpark Sushi brand was developed to reflect the target audience's attributes. Boxpark Sushi's voice and tone is friendly, adventurous, and youthful. The brand's design expresses its attributes through the use of bright colors and polka dot patterns that create movement. The brand differentiates itself from the competition and expresses innovation by avoiding the use sushi restaurant trends, like the inclusion sushi related iconography within its logo, or the use of reds and blacks. Boxpark sushi not only portrays its product through imagery, but also portrays its audience. Boxpark sushi shows innovation by connecting with its audience first and its market second.