On a roll

The studio’s treatment is based on a modern interpretation of anime and manga culture. Menus, A-boards, staff uniforms, interior graphics and window wraps were all updated as part of the redesign.

Central to the concept are a range of content-driven menus that were designed to look like Japanese zines complete with manga-like illustrations. The inclusion of Kanji script across the restaurant and accompanying advertising campaign means that customers can learn the authentic names of their favourite dishes. The new design was rolled out to all UK sites in the past two weeks and will be launched in all US sites later this month.

‘We wanted to give everyone a taste of what’s going on in Tokyo right now,’ says & Smith director Dan Bernstein. ‘That’s where the zine and newspaper menu idea came from. It gave us the chance to show some nice snippets of art, fashion and music alongside their food. The idea is that the editorial content will change four or five times a year.’