IHOP

Dynamic rebrand of a family restaurant

discipline

Dynamic Branding

Role

UX Research, UI Design, Prototyping, Design System

Tools

Figma, Procreate, After Effects

Timeline

4 months

Team

Alexandra Molta & Suebin Kang

Recognition

Shortlisted for the Young Ones 2023 Branding

Project Overview

What is the Ihop Rebrand?

IHOP, the International House of Pancakes, is a restaurant chain that seeks to provide a family-friendly dining experience. In light of the trend of families eating fewer meals together, IHOP aims to create a space where families can gather and enjoy a meal in a comfortable and welcoming environment. With a diverse menu that includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, IHOP offers something for everyone.

The Challenge

Families are increasingly eating fewer meals together, with many eating in their cars and dining together less than five times a week. The challenge is to encourage family meals and highlight the importance of creating lasting memories through shared dining experiences.

Solution

Develop a dynamic branding system for IHOP that fosters a family-friendly atmosphere. This includes incorporating time-of-day and weather-based branding elements to enhance the dining experience and encourage families to gather and enjoy meals together.

Sit back, sip some coffee (or tea), & enjoy

Brand Ideal

Brand Strategy

Everyday is a treat

Our system is to communicate our effort to bring a smile to your face.

Brand Archetypes

Everyman80%
A friendly, welcoming atmosphere, conversation, a wholesome meal leads to positive vibes.
Innocent20%
Ihop encourages its customers to "be good to yourself" and be comfortable.

Brand Personality

Unity, connection, Individuality, Homey

DYNAMIC BRANDING SYSTEM

Visual Identity

The logo uses a rectangle with precise measurements between each icon and letter. The icon, a smiley face, had to be carefully overlapped over the "h" and "p" to ensure proper alignment

Brand Typeface

Lato Regular is utilized for the body text while Nunito Extra Bold is used for headings. These two fonts complement each other perfectly, just like warm syrup on freshly made pancakes.

Brand Color Palette

Primary

Secondary

Dynamic Branding System

It's the Holiday Season

To express the excitement of the upcoming holidays, the usual smiley logo will change into a specific icon for the time of the offered seasonal menu.

Every Hour Counts

With ihop being open 24/7 the demographic changes throughout the day. You’ll see the logo change on the menu, and the silverware according to the time of day.

Special Day, For You and Us

Whether its ihop’s birthday or yours, they want to celebrate by giving free pancakes, from them to you!

Seasons of ihop

April showers bring...seasonal pancakes! With limited edition drinks and menu selections coming in for the current season, what a better way to celebrate the new season than seasonal icons!

Today’s Weather Forecast

When the weather changes, so does our appetite. On a rainy day, a hot cup of tea or coffee just tastes better. On a sunny morning, pancakes and milk with family sounds even better!

Takeaways

Expanding Ihop's Dynamic System

I'm really excited about the potential of our dynamic system. I think it would be amazing to expand the weather section to create unexpected and compelling experiences. By incorporating weather and time of day data, we can better understand how these factors influence people's cravings and emotions, and tailor offerings accordingly.
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I want to keep exploring new possibilities for our dynamic system and finding new ways to engage and delight our customers. I think it would be really interesting to create an international system where the dot of the "I" in our logo is replaced with the a country's flag and in the middle of logo will be a traditional plate of that country.