How do you completely rebrand the UK's most popular Thai restaurant chain across nearly 40 sites while maintaining cultural authenticity and supporting aggressive expansion plans?
Giggling Squid needed a comprehensive visual identity that would work across every customer touchpoint while complementing hand-painted interiors and representing genuine Thai culture.Working as a graphic designer at Saint Design, I contributed to a complete rebranding strategy that encompassed every aspect of the customer experience. The approach required cultural research and visual systems thinking to ensure consistency across logos, menus, digital platforms, packaging, promotional materials, and environmental graphics while authentically representing Thai culture.
Thai culture celebrates abundance and beauty in dining, where meals are about "profusion" - lots of dishes shared together. The visual identity needed to reflect this cultural philosophy while appealing to UK audiences. Using Thailand's most beautiful flowers as the foundation ensured cultural authenticity, as flowers are deeply present and important in Thai culture and cuisine.
I developed comprehensive brand applications building on the creative direction to combine authentic Thai flowers with the brand's squid identity in Ernst Haeckel's Victorian botanical style. I re-executed the logo to give it a painted, organic feel that complemented the owner's hand-painted interiors. Menu layouts used grid systems that mimicked the "profusion" of a traditional Thai meal, while incorporating patterns from authentic Thai fabrics as design details.
My work spanned the complete brand ecosystem: logos, comprehensive menu systems, social media templates, website reshaping, A boards, takeaway bags and containers with custom sleeves, business cards, opening soon postcards, and loyalty cards. I also hired and briefed photographers to capture new dishes that aligned with the refreshed brand aesthetic, ensuring every touchpoint maintained visual consistency.
The impact
The comprehensive rebranding successfully supported Giggling Squid's aggressive expansion plans, with the new identity providing significantly better market visibility than the previous branding. This success reinforced their position as the UK's most popular Thai restaurant chain and supported their continued growth across the UK market.
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