Ippudo is a Japanese ramen restaurant chain with locations worldwide. Originally founded in Fukuoka in 1985, the brand brought itself to the Philippine shores in 2014, bringing a taste of world-famous ramen to Manila. Wherever Ippudo goes, its mission remains the same: to take your tastebuds on a journey of flavor through delicious bowls of ramen.
Brand Strategy
Brand Consultancy
Editorial Design
Ippudo Philippines tapped us to develop a localized design of the menu. The challenge was to allow the design to imbibe Japanese heritage and culture while being able to appeal to a local market. We needed to communicate what exactly made Ippudo's ramen world-famous.
We took the pillars of Japanese cooking: simplicity, precision, and technique—and incorporated these qualities in our creative direction. It was also important for us to go back to the craft of Japanese ramen by highlighting the anatomy of their signature Tonkotsu broth and incorporating "how-to's" on how to best enjoy Ippudo ramen.
We drew custom illustrations using a distinctly Japanese dry-brush technique and created a layout system that could easily allow the brand to further expand their menu. Today, the brand continues to use this design along with the brand assets we've created across various marketing materials.
We designed Ippudo's in-store and digital marketing collaterals by using the same custom hand-drawn illustrations to highlight the ramen's mark of quality.
Zuzutto is the act of slurping ramen with gusto and is something that the Japanese consider to be the mark of a good ramen experience.