An authentic and delicious West African fast casual restaurant in NYC needed a brand that would stay true to its African roots while appealing to the American palate. DUNDU was born from the need to fill the apparent void of African Cuisine in the fast-casual food industry. Foluso, the owner, is very proud of her upbringing, heritage and culture and couldn’t wait to share the food she grew up eating with the world.

The main challenge was to express the owner’s wish for a happy, caring, fun, bold, authentic yet modern brand. She wanted a brand that was different enough that it would make people curious to want to know more or try something they’ve never tried before, but also be tied to the Nigerian narrative.

The bright green is inspired by the Nigerian flag for authenticity but made brighter to paint the happy, bold and positive energy from Dundu. The black and white creates a simple but contrasting appearance that could only be complemented by the raw, prominent hand illustrations and handmade stamps that represent the greatness of her people.

As the owner states “DUNDU is my own positive story of my people, my country and continent written in the ink of food.”

This project is one of our favorites. It is very rich in culture and elements, so it made it really easy on us to be creative and to have fun while experimenting and trying to express with love, and passion the elements that needed to be discovered throughout the brand.

Nigerian cuisine, like West African cuisine in general, is known for its richness and variety. Many different spices, herbs, and this needed to be represented in a simple way while coming up with the brand. We were not only trying to represent the richness in food, but also translate the richness of their roots, culture and bring some of that beautiful country to New York City in this case. Bring people that had never tried Nigerian food before to Dundu was our main goal.

We want to tell stories through our design, make people feel interested an ultimately feel at home while enjoying tradition and culture in every taste. This could only be approached by staying true to Dundu’s roots while providing guests and customers with a fun, creative, happy and bold design.