MA Design for Communication

Dong Hyun Kim from Korea opened the first Wasabi and Sushi & Bento branch in Embankment, London in 2003 and since then it has grown not only in status and size but in net worth. Currently as it stands today the fast food restaurant chain has a revenue of £64 million and Kim has a total of 41 branches worldwide with 38 alone being in the UK. 

I visited wasabi for the first time a few years ago and ever since I discovered the fast food brand it has become one of my favourite places to eat. When you visit an outlet you can immediately get a sense of what it's like to be in Japan. I imagine, I've never been but would certainly like to go. The main love for the brand comes from the aesthetic care they take in advertising their products. 

From a design point of view I really am fond of their application of colour I find it to be very fresh (perhaps a connection to the ingredients) but yet subtle and sharp, their typeface is clean, modern, simple and timeless. Their photography and advertising I find is also quite unique I found a lot of other food photography from other fast food chains are quite cliche but coming across this I felt it was more authentic and real even though it was just photos of their product. From this I believe you can instantly get a feel of what the brand is about and what they stand for, their food as well... let's say that's another topic in itself.

The second company I picked were Lynx:

Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, released Axe (known as Lynx in many other countries) in France 1983. With a young male demographic in mind Lynx grew to earn quite a status in the male grooming industry, with not only their deodorant but also having a shower gel and sometimes a antiperspirant/deodorant stick and an aftershave lotion it was all part of their sell, their package. From 1990 - 1996 geographic names for fragrances were used alongside their name an example would be Lynx Africa. In 2009 the Axe Bullet was launched it was an 8 centimeter container but the brand did extend to other areas. Lynx also launched limited edition variants from time to time, a good example of this was the Lynx final edition released in 2012 I felt it was a clever campaign to play on the mayan calender (those that believed also the end of time as we know it) ending.  

I chose Lynx because I use it pretty much everyday and not only do I like the smell, variety of fragrance choices, aftershaves and deodorant but I also like the brand itself. From a design point of view I have always liked and been intrigued by their adverts be it bus or billboard posters or TV commercials they ooze creativity right from the design of the spray can, to the billboard posters and the television adverts. Their typeface for the logo itself is quite futuristic and bold I feel looking at it you just get this statement of empowerment and what they're about. Their use of colour I also feel is quite simple, clean and effective they either have their gradient deodorant cans or the simple black or white spray can (depending on the variant), again I just feel it is a strong statement of intent and even though it is just a male grooming product I still feel it carries strength.