Situated within DUO Galleria in Singapore, YEN Social is a new dining concept from the team behind YEN Yakiniku. Helmed by maestro Chef Jones Chen, the restaurant’s brand positioning is meant to be cordial and light-hearted. As a form of expression to its personality, the brand identity took inspiration from the restaurant’s key ingredient—the Binchotan charcoal.

Valued for its long-burning, odourless, and smokeless qualities, the design intent is to translate these properties into a graphical medium. Using the textures and characteristics of the charcoal’s form, the object is treated as an artistic expression, creating a series of chaotic and free-spirited strokes that is cascaded across the collaterals.

Positioned as a more casual spin-off to its main restaurant, a signature-like neon ‘Social’ is applied over its brushed YEN base, loosely inspired from Western diners (also to suggest its friendly-dining nature). On applied stationery, this neon treatment expressed in reverse through the form of a golden foil, adding a subtle touch of luxury to its otherwise rustic features. The brand applications included the signage, business cards, restaurant menu, alcohol inserts, letterheads, label tags, and window stickers.

This visual language also led the inspiration to YEN Social’s menu design, featuring a series of engraved illustrations mixed with modern vectors. These drawings are then complemented with a selection of Condensed and Sans-Serif fonts, facilitating a balance of form and function.