Slurping Turtle
Branding / Identity
Brief
Redesign the logo and brand identity of a small business.
Background
Slurping Turtle is a Japanese restaurant and bar with locations in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio. The restaurant offers traditional Japanese comfort food with a uniquely American twist. In Japanese culture, the turtle represents longevity and good luck. Their main target audience includes college students and young professionals. The current branding feels childish and doesn’t speak to the dining experience and target audience.
Goals
Design a logo that speaks to the casual, yet elegant dining experience offered by Slurping Turtle
Create a more focused & modern brand identity that speaks to target audience while maintaining spirit of previous brand identity
Software
Illustrator / Photoshop / After Effects / InDesign / Figma
BRAND EXTENSIONS
BRAND GUIDELINES
INITIAL SKETCHES
In my initial concepts, I sought to draw connections between the turtle and ramen noodles. I felt that the turtle was essential to the brand, so I tried to incorporate it in my sketches by either referencing the shell pattern or by including the actual turtle into the logo concept.
DIGITAL COMPS
The next step in the process was to digitize concepts I had worked on. The three shown above were based on what I felt were the strongest concepts after getting feedback on my sketches. The majority of people felt that the turtle with the noodle hanging out of its mouth was cute, fun, recognizable, and captured the spirit of the brand well.
In my next iteration, I added color and made adjustments to the turtle icon. The red circle behind the turtle was meant to represent the Japanese flag and the teal chosen was intended to represent a vibrant youthful energy for the brand.
