San Fran agency Iyashi is going “Honkaku” for Ramen Hero.

Iyashi Brand Studio
2 min readApr 14, 2020

--

Unless you’ve been living under a culinary rock, Japanese terms like “Umami” and “Wagyu“ are already part of foodie lexicon. Now San Francisco branding studio, Iyashi, wants to add another Japanese term to the cultural conversation: “Honkaku”.

Though it sounds like something a confused rooster might say, “Honkaku” actually means “authentic” in Japanese. Iyashi founder Takashi Kusui explains, “In Japan, “Honkaku” (本格) ramen shops are those which follow strict Japanese standards of quality and craftsmanship. It’s a good word to describe our client, Ramen Hero, who home delivers handcrafted ramen kits all over the U.S.”

The concept of Honkaku is at the heart of everything Ramen Hero does, and so the same had to hold true for this new brand relaunch. More than a word, Honkaku is an attitude of authenticity, creativity, professionalism, and attention to detail.

The same way Nike has “Just Do It” Ramen Hero has Honkaku, and it’s that spirit you’ll see run through every aspect of the new brand relaunch, from that video to the newly unveiled logo, mascot, and food photography.

Not just limited to ramen, “Honkaku” describes anything or anyone that’s true and genuine. Kusui adds, “If someone calls you “Honkaku”, take it as a compliment. It means you’re the real deal”.

Expect to see “Honkaku” (Pronounced: hon-cock-ew) popping up in food blogs, Instagram posts and Twitter as the Ramen Hero new products ready to ship soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2jAjin6GRE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2jAjin6GRE

Ramen Hero delivers real Honkaku right to your door.

_________________________________________________________________

Client: Ramen Hero
CEO: Hiro Hasegawa

Agency: Iyashi Brand Studio
Chief Brand Officer: Takashi Kusui
Creative Director: Cedric Giese
Executive Producer: Adam Parker
UXUI: Yang Zhou
Production Design: Sharon Cardell

Illustrator: Juan Molinet
Photographer: Maren Carsuso
Video Production: Avocados & Coconuts

_________________________________________________________________

Iyashi (Ee-ya-she) is a full service branding studio located in San Francisco, CA. http://iyashisf.com

--

--

Iyashi Brand Studio

Iyashi (Ee-ya-she) is a brand studio from San Francisco. We build brands people love. — https://iyashisf.com/