For my senior thesis, I reimagined Empire Palace, my parents' former Chinese restaurant, which they ran for nearly 15 years. The goal is to create a modern and culturally rich rebrand that reflects how the restaurant might exist today—refined yet accessible, familiar but contemporary. I began by revisiting the original menu and logo, which included a tower-and-bowl icon.
Original restaurant menu
I went through many sketches of the tower and bowl combination but ultimately decided on the current logo for its versatility seeing as the icon and type are able to function and represent the brand both together and separately.
For the font, a new decorative display font that echoes the architecture’s curves and elegance was chosen paired with a clean sans-serif for readability on other assets. The color palette retained the original red and green.
The prototype development began with the menu redesign which features a narrowed-down, more curated selection of dishes, emphasizing quality over quantity to reflect a refined and focused culinary identity. Alongside the menu, a business card with a minimal layout incorporates the new logo alongside a QR code, embracing modern ordering habits and enhancing accessibility for tech-savvy customers. In terms of packaging, custom takeout containers, branded aprons, and stickers were created to reinforce brand recognition and a series of promotional posters for eye-catching marketing collateral.
I designed the exhibition installation as an interactive space that recreates the familiar atmosphere of a Chinese takeout restaurant, offering a sense of both nostalgia and engagement. Figuring out how to display design work in a gallery setting posed an unexpected challenge: how does one present branding, packaging, and menus in a way that feels alive rather than static? In response, I chose to transform the space into something immersive, turning the gallery corner into a fully realized experience that reflects the essence of the project.
At the center is an L-shaped counter, grounding the installation in recognizable form, inviting visitors to walk around the space. Placed on the counter will be the physical materials, all available for visitors to take. At the heart of the experience is the idea of give and take, a dialog between designer and audience, brought to life through an interactive “What’s Your Order?” prompt that invites visitors to share their personal Chinese takeout favorites. This participatory element blends public memory with individual taste, turning the gallery into a layered, communal space, and acts as tribute to my childhood nostalgia.
