Kinki – From a cursed location to lines around the block

KINKI
RAMEN

From a cursed location
to lines around the block

Is there a room for a new ramen shop in the city with two well established Asian restaurants? Maybe... if we make it kinki.

No restaurant lasted here for more than a year.
Kinki didn’t focus on survival, they focused on being worth going to.

SCOPE OF WORK

Research

Visual Identity
-> Logo
-> Key Visual
-> Ilustration

Implementation
-> Branding placement
-> Uniforms
-> Merch
-> Mural & Signage

For the typical gaijin Kinki sounds provocative — a little deviant. In Japan, Kinki is the historic region around Kyoto and Osaka, rich in culture and tradition.

We decided to build on that tension: something deeply rooted in Japan, with a meaning that lands quite differently abroad.

The branding plays with big, bold typography against hand-drawn illustrations inspired by Edo-period manga drawings. Big neon signs in the windows are contrasted with almost invisible stickers that reveal themselves in the light. Purple is colour-blocked against vibrant orange. A calm, traditional interior is punctuated by neon and hand-painted illustrations.