Boxer Ramen
Brand Collateral | Website Concepting | Environmental Design
With a small yet mighty menu, Boxer Ramen has been serving up the hottest noods in town since 2013. The down-to-earth feel of the restaurant keeps diners coming back, and together we worked to balance continuity with their keeping their menu fresh.
This work was a yearslong process, evolving as the noodle joint’s footprint and notoriety continued to grow. We partnered to create brand collateral and components that would allow for easy updates as they innovated.
At its inception, Boxer’s menus were handmade from scratch each time their offerings changed. As product turnover increased during their growth journey, continuing to put that cozy sincerity on display was the main priority.
We addressed this by creating a custom font for them based on the design of their original menus. This work evolved into a redesign of the menu format itself.
Each new location Boxer expanded into ended up with its own personality based on the neighborhood it landed in, and we created environmental collateral to best display that.
One location was tucked away in a Northeast Portland alleyway, and we embraced that parallel with quintessential family-run Tokyo eateries by wheatpasting deliberately homespun-looking posters on the walls. Another location abutted a busy throughway, and there the owners wanted to pay homage to the Japanese ramen film Tampopo by creatively displaying some of its most recognizable images. We opted to overlay stylized shots from the film on ceiling box lights to add a pop of color in the restaurant and give diners the feel of eating with the characters in the film.
Boxer has grown into one of the kings of the Portland ramen scene, differentiating itself from competitors by keeping its menu simple and allowing each location to embrace its individuality.
It’s been an honor to be a part of their journey, both as a designer and as a server for the restaurant—I have been influenced by the brand just as much as it has impacted me over the years.