We’ve been working with the multi award-winning street food pioneers at Dabbawal for several years now, and recently partnered with them to refresh and evolve their brand. Dabbawal have been serving up their vibrant Indian street food in Newcastle since before the UK’s street food boom, and remain as innovative as ever. With two buzzing restaurants — one in the heart of the city on Highbridge, the other in leafy Jesmond — they continue to honour the spirit of Mumbai’s dabbawala lunch delivery culture: fast-paced, full of flavour, and always heartfelt.

This wasn’t a full rebrand — more of a brand evolution. Our design team started by creating a bold new colour palette and refreshing the original logo. In true Dabbawal style, we didn’t stop at just one. We created a suite of logo variants, each with its own personality, but unmistakably part of the same family. The same went for business cards — a colourful mix, each one a little different, yet instantly recognisable.

Alongside the new identity, we created an eclectic set of graphic assets, including press ads, all of their menus, on-site signage, and a fresh new website — a digital home that channels the same energy and spirit as the restaurants themselves.

We have also been collaborating with the team at Dabbawal to inject some fresh magic into the restaurant interiors. Adding some tactile extra decorative paint and wallpaper layers in rich neutrals and spice tones, softened with vintage accessories, hanging plants and gorgeously reflective mirrors bouncing new light around the space. We’ve also designed and installed some ultra comfortable new banquette seating, creating extra special booths and group-dining spots around the venue, to enjoy the collection of custom art created specifically for Dabbawal. Jesmond is already a wonderfully welcoming, much-loved neighbourhood restaurant, and we hope the customers feel the extra love being injected into the space.

As for Highbridge, a kerb-side facelift, repainted in the brands new muted colour palette with dabbawala decals guiding you to the entrance. The new look and feel is fresh and inspiring, designed to harmonise beautifully with the new evolved branding.

We love getting arty, particularly when you have a brand that is brave enough to run with some of the crazy ideas and designs our team came up with. We created a collection of custom art created specifically for Dabbawal, featuring new takes on some of the brand’s best-loved motifs; full of bengali tigers and elephants, Indian mash up montages and cheeky Dabbawalas. Also lots of pieces featuring the true heroes of Dabbawal — the chefs.