Koto

A Japanese cuisine based in Kuwait City, inspired by a dark kitchen concept, Koto is created as a bold and playful restaurant where customers are served a delivery-only experience. For the brand to be appealing, the visual identity had to be developed with an engaging timeless narrative.

Typography is the key foundation for Koto’s identity. The logo – set in GT Maru Mega – is rooted and grounded in urban Japanese aesthetics, and recalls the Japanese pop culture concept kawaii. The secondary Information is typeset in the narrow, rounded Miso; the Japanese texts use PingFang.

Likewise, following the brand’s personality, the logo required an uplifting logomark as well. Ms. Koto is designed after two iconic Japanese pop culture characters in the early 80s. Mariya Takeuchi’s emblematic smiling-album cover encourages a sudden familiar warmth while the happy pink cheeks give a nudge to the anime character Heidi; these attributes tighten the logomark’s brand construction.

One of the biggest challenges nowadays in packaging design is to reduce the waste that it generates. Care packaging is part of the brand’s values; we created a modular system layout for labeling the biodegradable containers and bags to produce a flexible and eco-friendly brand.

Koto is a love letter dedicated to Japan.
ありがと