Sake & Food Fest Hawaii

Event Branding & Visual Identity Design

Client: Honolulu Festival Foundation

The Honolulu Festival is Hawaii’s largest event for cultural exchange between Japan and Hawaii furthermore the Pacific region. The festival is held annually with a parade down Kalakaua Avenue and performances and exhibits at the Hawaii Convention Center. And with the new “Sake & Food Fest” to introduce Japanese sake culture as a special event within the festival, the branding of this festival was necessary.

Japanese Sake Culture from Hawaii to the World

The colorful and fun logo features Hawaiian-style handwritten typography and accents that evoke the image of a tokuri (a small sake bottle) and ochoko (a small sake cup) to express the “Fusion of Hawaii and Japan,” and a design that gives the impression of fireworks to create a sense of festivities. Also, the design creates a sense of a ” Mature Event for Enjoying Japanese Culture” with a soothing color scheme of dark blue, vermillion, and gold, the traditional colors of Japan.

An easy-to-understand infographic introducing the differences between various SAKEs such as sake, shochu, and awamori, and a display panel introducing the history of Japanese sake in Hawaii were installed to allow visitors to learn more about SAKE culture. In addition, at the booths where visitors could enjoy tasting a variety of SAKE from all over Japan and tasting Hawaiian food, the tables were color-coded according to SAKE flavor, making it easier to find the SAKE of your choice, just like wine. On the day of the event, there was a long line for this FEST, making it the most popular event at the Hawaii Convention Center.