Delivering a full-scale London launch — 150+ assets, two floors, two months — without losing the integrity of a brand built in Hong Kong.
client
Dim Sum Library (London Launch)
my role
Senior Systems Designer
deliverables
Rapid Market Entry, Cross-Platform Consistency, High-Volume Asset Deployment
the problem
Dim Sum Library is an established Hong Kong concept with a strong Art Deco identity. The London debut in Covent Garden needed to translate that identity into a full-scale physical environment — digital campaigns, large-format interior graphics, menus, packaging — within a strict two-month window. The brand existed. The system for deploying it at this scale did not.
01 / Treating the brand guidelines as a kit of parts
The existing brand hadn't been stress-tested for a two-floor London rollout. I treated the guidelines as a starting point rather than a finished system — developing new menu templates, illustrations, and modular compositions that could scale from large-format wall graphics down to small packaging. The goal was a consistent brand experience across every surface, without designing each asset from scratch.
02 / Managing 150+ assets in 60 days
I coordinated with the Hong Kong team to audit and retrieve a large image library, selecting 150+ photographs and working out which images belonged in which parts of the restaurant — so the space felt considered rather than wallpapered. This ran in parallel with coordinating local printers and installers to make sure the technical precision of the final build matched the design intent.
03 / A system that travelled back
The design system and modular assets I built for the London launch were adopted by the original Hong Kong team for their global internal library. A localised solution became part of the core global brand architecture. That's the clearest sign a system was built at the right level of rigour.
Decide what can't change, then move as fast as possible on everything else.
OUTCOME
A full-scale London launch was delivered on time within a two-month sprint. Unified across digital, print, and environmental touchpoints. The system built for London became part of the global brand infrastructure.
Reflection
This project was a lesson in working fast without breaking things. Under real deadline pressure, the quality of your system is what holds. Decide early what stays fixed — the brand logic, the grid, the rules — and everything else can move quickly without the result feeling rushed.