LenLen: Give Design Personality Without Hiding Information
A brand can be relaxed and still need to guide very concrete choices. Customers want to recognize a product, find information or understand how to order. Visual personality should contribute to this conversation. The challenge arises when expression takes the space needed for guidance.
The LenLen project, for a Thai restaurant in Manhattan, uses a language Pentagram describes as hand-drawn, with illustrations and collages. The case connects these choices to an intention to express hospitality and spontaneity. It also presents applications in menus, signage and environmental elements. Andrea Trabucco-Campos and team created the work. These are documented decisions and intentions, rather than a measurement of customer experience. View the official LenLen case
The agency records coverage of this work on October 5, 2026. The reference was consulted on October 22, within an expanded analysis window. That coverage date does not establish when the restaurant or its identity began operating. Pentagram's coverage record
Expressive brand design: personality Does Not Need to Occupy Everything
Our interpretation is that an expressive project should distribute different roles among its elements. An illustration can make a strong impression. A service description needs to enable understanding. The relationship between these tasks should be planned for each application, rather than repeating the same intensity throughout the piece.
For a small business, it is worth asking where people encounter the brand. A wall may be viewed for longer. A sign may be sought while moving. Material supporting a choice needs to help compare alternatives. These contexts may require different decisions within the same visual proposal.
This does not mean all functional information should lack character. It means the design should be assessed against its task. A solution can retain handmade gestures, images and humor while reserving a stable space for what customers need to find.
Mark Each Area's Task
Choose a real application and separate its areas by function. The exercise below helps discuss composition without reducing the conversation to “cleaner” or “more fun.” Each area can have more than one function, but one should guide the decision when conflict arises.
Function | What to observe |
Identify | Can people recognize which company is presenting the material? |
Explain | Does the content make the option or service understandable? |
Differentiate | Are the alternatives presented in a comparable way? |
Guide | Can people locate the next step? |
Express | Do the visual elements give the piece a presence connected to the brand? |
This proposal is our own editorial tool. It does not reproduce an assessment by LenLen's designers. Use it to locate a concrete issue: is an illustration hiding information? Could a decorative area help organize the content? Is a headline competing with the product name?
Fictional Example: A Shop with a Handmade Visual Language
Consider the fictional Quitanda do Pátio. The brand likes hand-drawn posters and wants to present product baskets. In the first trial, each basket's name and details are scattered among drawings. The team realizes it needs to explain verbally which items belong to each option.
One revision hypothesis would keep the handmade character in frames and headings while organizing each basket's information into recognizable groups. The trial aims to check whether customers can compare options. It is neither an executed campaign nor a claim of increased orders.
If the shop also uses labels and an outdoor sign, each application needs separate observation. Transferring the poster composition to a smaller label may remove the very area that organized the information. The decision should go beyond shrinking the file.
Test the Choice Before Defending the Style
Prepare a simple task using the material: find an option, explain the difference between two alternatives or locate the ordering channel. Show the piece to someone who did not follow its creation. Ask them to point out where they found the answer, without first showing them the way.
Record the task the piece needs to support.
Observe which elements the person uses for orientation.
Record information that required further explanation.
Review areas where expression and guidance compete for space.
Repeat the check with the revised version and the same content.
This observation helps locate difficulties in the piece, but it does not validate the entire identity or represent the whole audience's opinion. It also does not determine which aesthetic the brand should adopt. The test produces a more useful design question than a discussion of taste alone.
Bring Personality into Everyday Materials
When commissioning work, include the applications actually involved in customer service. A brand may be presented expressively in a launch image yet lose that connection in everyday materials. Choose enough examples to discuss how the proposal works without demanding pieces the operation will not use.
The LenLen case is interesting for how it connects a visual language with a physical business's touchpoints. Adapting it to your company requires a different investigation. To discuss visual identity with Briccitly, gather materials where your personality needs to appear and the information customers need to find. Explore Briccitly visual identity
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