Botsford EcoTech Partners, formerly 5-Trees, needed to rebrand itself in conjunction with founder Krista Botsford’s relocation to a new office in Nashua, NH. The new brand needed to capitalize on the name that Botsford had already made for herself as an expert in RoHS compliance and other eco-compliance issues effecting the technology industry, while remaining down-to-earth and approachable.

DiMella Shaffer, an award-winning architecture firm based in Boston, MA, built their business on their proposals. To expedite the process, they needed informational sheets that were not only visually appealing, but were also easy to update, standardized throughout the organization, and easy to produce in-house as needed.

Working with design director Rod Tilley, the zen kitchen helped the organization create a series of sellsheets that could be run off on a standard color copier, or on a digital press when needed. According to Rod, “The fundamental structural details, progressive and contemporary look [of the DiMella Shaffer stationery and marketing materials designed by the zen kitchen] definitely redefines our brand and is more in tune with the innovative work that we do.”

Kitchen on Common opened in Belmont’s Cushing Square neighborhood in September of 2007. Prior to the launch, founder Joh Kokubo came to the zen kitchen to create the restaurant’s identity, menu and website. 

The restaurant provides Cushing Square residents with a unique experience: fresh, simple, gorgeous food, with an obsessive focus on local and seasonal ingredients. The restaurant’s small dining room also makes Kitchen on Common a popular take-out option, which meant that the menu presented several challenges: it had to be used for both people looking for takeout and dine-in options, it had to be updateable by Joh on a weekly basis (or more often), and it had to be used for both dinner and lunch.

The answer? A printed shell of the menu, along with customizable templates for both lunch and dinner menus. A rubber stamp on the front helps designate the lunch from the dinner menu and adds a homespun touch.