Wheelhaus — Authentic Deutschland Delivery
Case Study 2020
Introduction:
In 2020 the whole idea of “going out to eat” was changed significantly. Our idea was to create a unique dine-at-home experience that is compelling and makes the idea of take-out dining, exciting again. By adding a couple more additions to the typical take-out experience we believe we have made a good experience for the family. Working as a team, we brought our ideas together to make it happen. Wheelhaus is a family friendly german restaurant which offers unique delivery from a vintage beer truck. Running on all 4 wheels, 6 days a week. Wheelhaus is ready to provide you and your family a unique and fun evening dinner.
The Problem:
As covid-19 shut the whole world down one of the biggest industries that was impacted was the restaurant industry. Dine-in was no longer permitted so restaurants shifted their focus to take-out dining. So time after time as we order takeout we get the white styrofoam takeout boxes in the plastic bags and have to sit at our dining room tables and eat it. It starts to get old and you lose the excitement of going out in public, being social, and enjoying the overall atmosphere.
The Team:
As we worked as a team we had specific roles, roles in which we all felt we fit best and could contribute the most. The roles were project manager, presentation manager, research and creative lead, and production manager. Brendan Lynch works as the research/creative lead and pushed us to do more research to solve the bigger problem, Zoe Descoteaux works as the Production manager and made sure all our work is in line, Sam Tiongson works as the presentation leader and makes sure the presentations are finalized, and Yan Li makes sure we are all on task as the project manager and submits the final work. Working as a group helped in many different ways, it allowed us to share ideas, build off one another, and learn the means of good communication between one another, all of which we must be good at and learn to do for our future endeavors. Having these defined responsibilities on top of the individual design work allowed us to make sure we were covering everything and doing it to the best of our ability.
Brainstorming & Research:
First we talked as a team and thought of our personal values, we thought who do we want to help while being able to create a fun at home experience? What plays a big role in making Philadelphia unique? After listing many ideas, we ended up deciding we want to help the smaller local breweries stay in business while being able to create a more unique experience for in-home dining.
We then thought okay, we want to help those breweries, but who is the king of beer? Who does it the best? Who knows the most about beer and is notorious for having amazing beer? Our best thought was Germany. Germany is known for its thousands of tasty and unique beers. So at this point we decided let’s make this a german restaurant that can sell some local Philly beer as well as unique german food.
Now that we have a German restaurant we thought of how we could push this more and make it a better experience than traditional takeout food for the family at home. So we looked into what people do in Germany for fun (as a family) our results came back pretty apparent. Families love to play games in Germany, whether that be as adults or even with children, they all love games.
So, overall our solution was to create a German restaurant that sells a ton of local Philly beers and the packaging itself provides rules for a German game. The restaurant then drives a vintage beer truck around the town to deliver your food.
User Personas:
Although Wheelhaus is for the whole family no matter the age, each of us asked our parents what years they enjoyed experimenting and having fun with friends. We were able to determine that our parents enjoyed going out and being most social between the ages of 21 and 31. Although they were not completely established they were working as well as having quality times with friends and family. By interviewing our parents this allowed us to create the perfect user personas and really understand who would enjoy Wheelhaus and all it has to offer.
Website Wireframe:
For our website we all wanted to create a website that is simple and to the point. We wanted to include essentials but also make it easily accessible for anyone to navigate it, including children!
Individual Design Process —
Brendan Lynch
Logo Process
I began this project by exploring typefaces and trying to discover a style that best represents the German heritage. I began to look at Blackletter typefaces as that specific style is what is used on many German designs today. I then began to play with the text, moving it around to try and see if anything would stick.
I began working with a design that encompassed food. However, I quickly moved away from this design-idea to favor more into the classic-car shape as the logo icon. Very early on I found the typeface I would use for the remaining revisions. I enjoyed the blackletter typeface and its simplicity, as well as its german origins. The Tagline “Deutschland Delivery” came from an idea to have the name “Wheelhaus” in both German and English words combined together, so the tagline should be half German.
For my second draft, I wanted to encompass more of the car design and begin to shape that. I decided to shape it as a classic pick up truck hauling beer barrels on the back.
My final draft of this logo was an illustration design, adding a line-width outside of type and giving the logo a grey-blue color that matches the website.
Branding
Another option I wanted to explore was branding for the delivery vehicle. Because the car was such an important element in the overall design of the logo and the business model; being a specialty delivery service. I began to design the car by taking a classic car and making a wrap that is similar to the branding on the package and website.
Individual Design Process —
Samuel Tiongson
Logo Process
After researching vintage, as well as modern beer and brewery logos, I was able to get a couple of sketches down onto paper. Initially I wanted to sketch any idea that came to mind.
After skecthing out ideas , I took some of my favorite ones into Illustrator. As the creative process continued, ideas changed and logos evolved. I wanted to aim for a more modern logo while still having a semi-vintage quality in terms of color. The next thing I needed to think about was the font usage. My initial idea was a nice black letter font but after experimenting I found black letter fonts became too hard to read & a simple san-serif font looked the best.
Branding
For the takeout box I aimed to create something eye catching and something that wasn't a typical bag. With the handle on the top of the box it allows for an easy carry, even with multiple meals within the box. The box includes a statement from the Wheelhaus team on one side, while the other side contains the game directions of your choice.
After creating the takeout box, I wanted to design something small but useful to many. I wanted to design something that we could include within each order just as something extra from Wheelhaus to make sure we acklowedge our appreciation of our customers.
Online Presence
Since everything in person is put on a hold, my team decided to create an online website and app so you can order from the convinece of your own home. With the app, you can order on the go and save some time.
Logo Process
For my logo and overall branding I decided to play off of the German Bauhaus art movement, an art style which is characterized by abstract shapes and forms. After looking at a number of examples of Bauhaus architecture, furniture design, prints, and paintings, my first approach was to incorporate “Wheelhaus” into the overall design of my logo. There were many problems with my first logo attempts, one being the fact that they were not responsive. When viewed at a smaller size the readability decreases.
For my next round of logos I wanted to turn the “W” and “H” in Wheelhaus into my logo icon. I encountered many problems with balance, struggling to keep the W and H consistent in style and weight. I chose to move forward with the more geometric icon instead of the rounded ones because they resembled a more retro style which is not what I was going for.
The straight intersecting lines in this logo interested me more and fit the bauhaus theme much better. But once I started to incorporate color into this logo the letters got lost and there still seemed to be a balance issue.
My solution was to divide the letters horizontally and vertically instead of having them lean diagonally. Now the letters are much more unified, and although they are less readable than my previous logo, they work better in reinforcing the bauhaus aesthetic.
Branding
As a group we thought it would be fun to incorporate games into the Wheelhaus dining experience. Some traditional german games include Mau Mau, Kniffel (aka. Yahtzee), German Charades, Fang den Hut (Trap the Cap). In the website/app customers identify who they’re dining with and how many, so that Wheelhaus can decide which game is best for them.
If the game is Mau Mau, customers will find that the cards need to be cut from the packaging. Wheelhaus tries to be environmentally friendly as possible. If the game is Kniffel, they will receive a stack of game cards and a set of dice. All games include instructions that can be found on the website and mobile app. Customers may also choose to purchase a Wheelhaus beer mug as well as coasters.
Online Presence and Menu
As a group we created a basic wireframe for our website, which included the menu and games tab. I decided to create a mobile app and a website for more versatility. I started designing the app first keeping color and the simplicity of Bauhaus in mind. The design of both the app and website stem from my logo.
Individual Design Process —
Yan Li
Logo Process
Everything starts with keywords, Germany, breweries, Restaurant, and games. Since our group’s goal is to promote local breweries and create a fun experience for our client. In the beginning, I tried to combine different keywords, for example, the first pair of logos focused mainly on beer bottles. The second pair of logos focuses on German and beer culture. The third pair focused on our group name, and the fourth pair focused on the raw material of the beer.
For my next step, I chose one of the last pair of logos. But I realized that my logo had a lot of empty space which made it very low contrast. After realizing the problem first, I take off the outer circle and give more detail, such as the line and more context.
However, my logo still has a lot of problems at the moment. For example, the logo as a whole is unbalanced and every part of the logo seems to be a different style. To solve these two problems I first started playing around with the composition and switched to a more modern style of font that corresponds to the weed. The last step is to have a shape that holds everything together, which helps my logo look more united.
After I set on the black and white version, I considered the color palette in my logo. The color palette is an essential element in the project; once I settle down on the color, I will apply it to all my products. I chose this color because it comes from many traditional German buildings.
Website and Menu
I try to incorporate more elements from the logo on my website, so I decided to crop the image with a similar angle as the homepage logo. I hope my customers can easily find what they want to eat; rather than a traditional menu, I decided to photograph each food to know what customers will get.
Branding
A big challenge for our group was to include game elements in our package. I choose to solve this problem with a digital version game. The game I chose is a Geman game call “Skat” which is a card game. The package will have an illustration of a deck of cards that can be photographed and uploaded to a web page for online play.
Project Conclusion —
Although this whole semester was a major learning curve for all, we can all look back and say we were able to create a unique project as a team and individuals. With circumstances that pushed us to be 100% online we learned how to communicate via Slack and collaborate as a group. This whole project allowed us to grow as individual designers while being able to have a good time and bringing our ideas to life. Throughout the design process we had many ups and downs and many ideas flowing, but with progress that is what made our project come out just the way we had imagined.
Designers and Writers —
Sam Tiongson, Yan Li, Brendan Lynch, Zoe Descoteaux
