Izakaya Gaku is an izakaya in Five Dock, Sydney. I turned the Fujin and Raijin illustration drawn by Taddy into vector artwork, then carried it through the menu, the signage and the noren on the shopfront.
Izakaya Gaku is an izakaya (a Japanese pub-style restaurant) in Five Dock, Sydney. The menu centres on ramen and kamameshi (rice cooked in an individual pot), with snacks, small plates, sashimi and even a ramen hotpot to share, all easy to enjoy.
Before Izakaya Gaku came Gaku Robata Grill in Darlinghurst, a restaurant aimed at a slightly more high-end crowd, with options like omakase. Izakaya Gaku is a separate restaurant with a more casual feel. With raised tatami-style seating and kamameshi on the menu, it aims to be a place where families can comfortably come too.
So the theme for this design work was to keep the refined identity of Gaku Robata Grill, while creating an atmosphere that feels easy to walk into.
The face of the restaurant is an illustration of Fujin and Raijin (the Japanese gods of wind and thunder) drawn by the artist Taddy. The client wanted to use it large on a wall, so they asked me to convert the illustration, which had been delivered as an image file, into vector artwork.
Vector artwork never loses quality, however much you enlarge it. When you want to use artwork across lots of different things, like menus, signs, walls and noren, it is essential. I mainly work in Adobe Illustrator. You can draw vector shapes in Photoshop using paths, but if you're converting an image-based illustration into vectors, Illustrator is the better tool.
I placed the vectorised Fujin and Raijin large on the food menu. Each category, such as ramen, kamameshi and ramen hotpot, has a vertical heading, and the layout is arranged so that dishes are easy to find in either English or Japanese.
For the sign, I made options that rearranged the 樂 (gaku) mark from the logo, the IZAKAYA GAKU lettering and the vertical 居酒屋＆釜飯 (izakaya & kamameshi) text, on both white and black backgrounds, and compared them side by side.
For the shopfront, I proposed a noren (the traditional fabric curtain hung at a Japanese shop entrance). Starting from a red taken from the logo colour, I created colour options with a little more darkness, purple or orange added, and tested them alongside deep crimson, purple and navy.
If you choose a colour only on screen, it can look quite different once it is actually hanging at the shop. So I placed the noren onto photos of the real shopfront, to check how it would feel from the street.
After comparing them, we went with orange for the noren.
Taking a logo or illustration you already have and carrying it through your menu, signage, noren and other parts of your shop is design work too. From vectorising artwork when all you have is an image, to arranging the printing, feel free to get in touch.
I share more of what design can do in Wait, a designer can help with that too?
As an image, the lines will blur when it is stretched to a large size. Once it is converted to vector artwork, it stays crisp however big you make it, so it can be used on signs, walls, noren and more.
Starting from a red taken from the logo colour, I made options with a little more darkness, purple or orange added, and compared them on photos of the actual shop. In the end, we went with orange.
Yes, you can. If you already have a logo or illustration, I can help you build on it and carry it through your menu, signage, noren and more.
Tell us about your business, in English or Japanese. A link or a few photos is a fine place to start. No pressure.
Get in touch →9 problems design can solve
Izakaya Gaku is an izakaya in Five Dock, Sydney. I turned the Fujin and Raijin illustration drawn by Taddy into vector artwork, then carried it through the menu, the signage and the noren on the shopfront.
Izakaya Gaku is an izakaya (a Japanese pub-style restaurant) in Five Dock, Sydney. The menu centres on ramen and kamameshi (rice cooked in an individual pot), with snacks, small plates, sashimi and even a ramen hotpot to share, all easy to enjoy.
Before Izakaya Gaku came Gaku Robata Grill in Darlinghurst, a restaurant aimed at a slightly more high-end crowd, with options like omakase. Izakaya Gaku is a separate restaurant with a more casual feel. With raised tatami-style seating and kamameshi on the menu, it aims to be a place where families can comfortably come too.
So the theme for this design work was to keep the refined identity of Gaku Robata Grill, while creating an atmosphere that feels easy to walk into.
The face of the restaurant is an illustration of Fujin and Raijin (the Japanese gods of wind and thunder) drawn by the artist Taddy. The client wanted to use it large on a wall, so they asked me to convert the illustration, which had been delivered as an image file, into vector artwork.
Vector artwork never loses quality, however much you enlarge it. When you want to use artwork across lots of different things, like menus, signs, walls and noren, it is essential. I mainly work in Adobe Illustrator. You can draw vector shapes in Photoshop using paths, but if you're converting an image-based illustration into vectors, Illustrator is the better tool.
I placed the vectorised Fujin and Raijin large on the food menu. Each category, such as ramen, kamameshi and ramen hotpot, has a vertical heading, and the layout is arranged so that dishes are easy to find in either English or Japanese.
For the sign, I made options that rearranged the 樂 (gaku) mark from the logo, the IZAKAYA GAKU lettering and the vertical 居酒屋＆釜飯 (izakaya & kamameshi) text, on both white and black backgrounds, and compared them side by side.
For the shopfront, I proposed a noren (the traditional fabric curtain hung at a Japanese shop entrance). Starting from a red taken from the logo colour, I created colour options with a little more darkness, purple or orange added, and tested them alongside deep crimson, purple and navy.
If you choose a colour only on screen, it can look quite different once it is actually hanging at the shop. So I placed the noren onto photos of the real shopfront, to check how it would feel from the street.
After comparing them, we went with orange for the noren.
Taking a logo or illustration you already have and carrying it through your menu, signage, noren and other parts of your shop is design work too. From vectorising artwork when all you have is an image, to arranging the printing, feel free to get in touch.
I share more of what design can do in Wait, a designer can help with that too?
As an image, the lines will blur when it is stretched to a large size. Once it is converted to vector artwork, it stays crisp however big you make it, so it can be used on signs, walls, noren and more.
Starting from a red taken from the logo colour, I made options with a little more darkness, purple or orange added, and compared them on photos of the actual shop. In the end, we went with orange.
Yes, you can. If you already have a logo or illustration, I can help you build on it and carry it through your menu, signage, noren and more.
Tell us about your business, in English or Japanese. A link or a few photos is a fine place to start. No pressure.
Get in touch →9 problems design can solve
