LU'S new identity takes after the elegance of vintage advertising typefaces in old Saigon. These advertising typefaces reflect the common phrases, slogans, cultural sayings in Vietnamese vocabulary. For example “Bánh Mì Đây!” a phrase that will be donned on the back of LU’S workers’ t-shirts, means “Come in, Come in, We have Banh-mi!”, a playful reference and welcoming call that can be heard often in the streets of Saigon.

The colors used in these typefaces and the brand also make reference to Saigon: muted colors associated with vintage and old Vietnamese advertising are visible to a viewer, and a nod to vintage print images that often have a faded blue printed quality to them. There is also a lot of Red and Yellow in the brand: these colors are important to Asian culture and heritage generally, are everywhere in Saigon, and echo Vietnam as well as its flag.

The last element to note of the new brand is the emphasis on the carrot. ‘If you eat a sandwich-a Vietnamese sandwich-and it doesn’t have pickled carrots, then it doesn’t taste good!’ With this cultural reverence for pickled carrots on a Banh Mi, it was clear it had to be a playful centerpiece of the new LU’S logo, acting as the apostrophe in the name.

Lu’s Sandwich’s is now under the new shortened name LU’S (but we’re still ok with people referring to us as Lu’s Sandwiches.) The rebrand celebrates LU’S past decade and also ushers in a new brand era with an emphasis of celebrating Asian representation in dining and in the Minneapolis Community. And an emphasis on being a welcoming community space and entity for diners, with values centered around equity.