Fujiyama Steakhouse of Japan
Case Study
Expressing the Art of Hibachi with Design
Fujiyama Steakhouse of Japan is an award-winning Japanese hibachi restaurant in Indianapolis. Each week Fujiyama serves thousands of families who come to enjoy their chef’s display of artistry while preparing Japanese dishes with premium quality ingredients.
My goal was to modernize Fujiyama’s brand identity across digital and print assets. With Fujiyama expanding and adapting to industry changes, I needed to raise awareness of extended services. This needed to happen without alienating the current brand’s long-standing customer base.
My designs needed to be informative, allowing customers to easily navigate menu options, catering packages, and private event reservations. Creating an effortless user experience was essential in allowing customers to enjoy the fantastic experience Fujiyama has to offer fully.
Page Navigation Index
CHALLENGE
Modernize the brand’s identity while clarifying the positioning to include updated services offered.
OUTCOME
I helped Fujiyama focus on its brand strategy, solidifying concepts that still needed to be visually represented. This brought awareness to their delivery, catering, and carry-out services.
Developing The Strategy
I met with Jason Cummings, the owner of Fujiyama Steakhouse of Japan, to discuss the visual problems the business needed to address. First, we identified our core customer base as part of our brand strategy exercise. Next, we outlined the information Fujiyama wanted to communicate to its target market.
Understanding The Customers
With 25 years of successfully serving families in the Indianapolis area, Fujiyama decided it was time to pursue new opportunities. Adapting to changes in the food industry, such as offering carry-out, delivery, and catering, would allow Fujiyama to increase sales without expanding to a second location. Therefore, I took on the task of raising current customer awareness and visually attracting potential customers interested in these updated services.
Defining The Brand
During our brand strategy session, we defined and refined the brand’s key attributes. This helped me build on the current brand identity, enhancing the look and feel of the brand by keeping visual assets cohesive.
Positioning
With all the valuable brand information now defined, we crafted our positioning statement that clearly expressed Fujiyama Steakhouse of Japan as a brand. We will use this to characterize everything we create for the brand.
Brand Refresh
Fujiyama was ready to expand into the digital realm, needing more than just in-house printed menus. So, I developed an identity system for visual assets to ensure everything would be cohesive. The logo, colorways, and Japanese art-inspired design elements were all created to enhance the quality of the brand experience.
Sub-Branding
It was time to create a sub-logo to help better illustrate the unique service Fujiyama Steakhouse of Japan had to offer. We needed a recognizable image that still complied with the brand guidelines set in place. Using the same font as the original wordmark, I created a revised one accompanied by illustrated hibachi chefs’ cooking utensils. Fujiyama wanted to clearly define their newly launched service without overshadowing the entire brand.
Menu Redesign
With the changing demands of customers in the food industry, it was time to broaden the accessibility of Fujiyama’s menu. The sit-down menu should be like the original to appease current customers. However, we needed to create an easily printable menu to cater to delivery/carry-out customers who desired a physical version of the menu to store either at home or work for easy reusability. Menus updated included a hibachi table, dining table, sushi bar, and bar.
Website Redesign
Fujiyama needed amazing display visuals that matched the experience at their private catered events. In addition, taking advantage of the brand awareness displayed in online posts by customers is imperative in the current digital landscape. This way, when Fujiyama’s social manager reviews posts to be reshared on the official brand pages, there’s branding present. This encourages social media users to reshare with the possibility of exposure, and Fujiyama wins with brand exposure.
Event Display Design
Fujiyama needed amazing display visuals that matched the experience at their private catered events. Taking advantage of the brand awareness displayed in online posts by customers is imperative in the current digital landscape. This way, when Fujiyama’s social manager reviews posts to be reshared on the official brand pages, there’s branding present. This encourages social media users to reshare with the possibility of exposure, and Fujiyama wins with brand exposure.
Results
Fujiyama Steakhouse of Japan continues to provide an award-winning food experience accompanied by complementary visuals. Since the private hibachi catering experience launched, Fujiyama has been regularly booked with excellent feedback on both the event registration experience and the actual catering experience. Happy hour sales have increased by 23% during the 2019 year we began building awareness. Fujiyama will continue to adapt and advance in the food industry. I am happy to be a part of helping solve their visual problems and create a better experience for the business and its customers.
