The client wished to memorialize it’s founder Rocky via a new caricature driven website. The challenge was to represent the restaurant chain, it’s founder, and it’s history, while maintaining a deep respect for the image and likeness of Rocky. Through careful consultation with the client (Rocky’s wife) and keen art direction we crafted a caricature that honored the spirit of the company’s founder while creating a dynamic online experience complete with animated pizazz.

As the digital strategist on the project, I was tasked with providing art direction for the caricature of Rocky in order to ensure he was captured in a way that properly honored his image.

In order to drive audience interaction and add a layer of fun to the overall site experience. The client wanted to animate Rocky and the elements representing his life in a way that was fun yet meaningful. Through careful research into his life story, we developed animations that would guide the user through the overall experience. Below are a few examples of animation storyboard sketches that were created for the project.

The following pages showcase the final designs that were created for the Benihana World experience. You can see the website in action at: http://www.benihanaworld.com/