Ferrato's was created as a fictional restaurant that serves Italian and Japanese fusion food. This restaurant’s goal is to perfectly mix the two cultures of Italy and Japan into a cohesive fusion of food, culture and design. The project was designed to create a full restaurant experience, with sustainable and thoughtful packaging, meaningful visual design, and memorable and unique branding.
My project was produced through an initial stage of researching cultural histories of Japan and Italy, as well as existing package design from each of the nations. I continued branding processes, utilising the research gathered to create brand guidelines that struck a balance between both cultures and design philosophies. Lastly, the package itself was constructed using a one-side printed 80 pound stock paper. I designed the folding structures to be simple, easy to replicate, and stackable to ensure efficiency, sustainability, and practicality as well as capturing the two cultures in a well designed and beautiful package. Cultural Roots.
Ferrato's was created to combine the two rich cultures of Italian and Japanese into one experience that offers not only the best of both worlds, but something more, and unique to itself. The logo was created as a visual representation of the ‘Ferrato's’ brand. I wanted to visually capture the merging of the two culture of Japanese and Italian, while not having one overpower the other. I created a logo that used two Japanese Symbols to represent the two cultures. The First symbol (日) represents Japan. It represents the rising sun, something very very important in Japanese culture. It also represents the daytime and sunlight. The second symbol (伊) represents the nation of Italy. Together, these two symbols (日伊) represent the relationship between Japan and Italy as a partnership, and show the unique relationship in this fusion restaurant.
The colours I chose reflect each Nation. The Red represents Japan and the rising sun. The green represent Italy. The wordmark overlayed on top of the symbols shows the connection of the two nations under the ‘Ferrato’ brand, and how they are the foundation of the brand and restaurant itself. The branding borrows elements from modern Italian design, with red and green patterns strongly contrasting the white background. Japan is represented through the simplicity of the design, and the clean, minimal, and bold design elements such as the Rising sun, and bold, geometric characters withing the logo and brand treatment. Together, these elements create the 'Ferrato's' design system, Merging both cultures visually under one fusion brand.
The package itself was created to be an effective, eco-friendly, and usable alternative to take out food boxes. I set out to create a set of three packages to hold various types of food that met these goals. I created a fl at box design for pizza and sushi, a big box design for rice and cannoli, and a cup design for soup and noodles. These three packages cover the types of Italian and Japanese food offered at ‘Ferrato’s’ fusion restaurant. The three packages were designed with a loop / latch system that allows them to be tied together for take home ease. I also designed a hybrid Spork / Chopstick that comes along with the take home boxes to off er the customer an easy way to eat any of the food offered, as well as being simple to use, and biodegradable. The fl at box was design to accommodate pizza, sushi and other fl at / long solid items. I made this package fl at and sturdy to serve as the base of the stack when couple with other items. serve as the base of the stack when couple with other items. This makes the system study and stable, to eliminate the risk of the package toppling or spilling any food. The big box was designed with rice, cannoli and other semi-solid items in mind. This box was created with the idea of offering a box that doubles as a plate. It can be completely flattened as a plate to be eaten off .
I was Inspired by the use of banana leaves as plates in Indian and Asian culture, and loved the idea of a completely biodegradable plate that can be laid fl at, then wrapped up to protect food. In my attempt to recreate this natural package, I came up with the fi nal design for the big box. It features a lock-tab that keeps it in a box, and a folded out state that is a plate. It also has the loops to help tether it to other packages as well as hold the ‘sporksticks’. The cup design was created to off er a way to store liquid items such as Italian Wedding Soup, and noodles. I created this cup with the same tethers for attaching it to other packages as well as the ‘sporksticks’. I used a tight seal lid to make sure liquids do not escape, and hold it tightly for transport. I also made this package sturdy, and smaller than the other two so it would fi t on top of the stack when transported and tied together.This completes the ‘pyramid’ of packages to ensure the most stability when transported as a group of two or three. All three packages were designed to work together from the start. I created each package with a loop system that allows the string to pass through and tie them together. These loops double as a way for the ‘sporksticks’ to be attached to the package. I wanted the whole collection of packages to shine as a striking piece of design, and a beautiful and functional way to take your food home from the restaurant.
