Kraut & Rüben | Identity Designed

Unplastered brick walls, bare light bulbs, and an old barn door: the Kraut & Rüben salad bar and café in Dortmund combines farm with industrial charm.

The focus of the food on offer: salad. For the basis of the salad mix, which can be enriched with farfalle pasta at will, four ingredients can be selected — olives, chick peas, red lentils, or strawberries. Kraut & Rüben focuses on variety and seasonal supply. This also applies for the soups, materialising, depending on the season, as light vegetable soups or hearty stews, as well as for the different variations of oven potatoes.

Always on the menu: homemade vanilla or chocolate pudding and rice pudding.

The design concept is based on a simple principle: cabbage (Kraut) grows upwards, and turnips (Rüben) grow downwards. Avoiding the colour green, we tried to create a simple yet concise design without the typical clichés. The upward/downward principle was applied to the logo, stationery, photography, and interior design.

Colophon’s Aperçu typeface was the perfect fit for Kraut & Rüben. It was slightly cut for the logo in order to emphasise the concept. As the client took us on board at a very early stage, it was possible to create an identity that really extended to all dimensions.