Thread Design, our Shanghai-based international branding agency, was selected to create retail and dining visuals elements for Mercedes me Beijing. The largest of the car giant’s newly established lifestyle and experience concept centers, a 5,000sqm space in the capital’s Sanlitun district marks the automaker’s first in Mainland China and follows launches in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Hamburg, Milan, and Munich. Much more than just cars, Mercedes me seeks to engage young consumers through a 360-degree concept spanning everything from showroom to eateries to shopping.

Ambitious and wide reaching, Mercedes me Beijing called for considered, consistent and engaging application design to unite its various facets caring over a consistent look and feel to a hundred applications ranging from signage and menus up to the smallest details of the chopsticks covers. More than a decade in China has earned Thread a reputation for research-based strategies and visuals making the boutique agency a natural fit for the center’s striking food and retail elements.

Of these elements was a variation of the company’s logo, thoughtfully adapted for me Café, a casual eatery serving South East Asian favourites. In keeping with the concept’s wider theme of adventure, the logo incorporates an intrepid vehicle ascending the motif’s curves.

Elsewhere, Si Fang San Chuan (characters), a contemporary Chinese restaurant whose name’s literal translation “four squares, three rivers” inspired our designers to create a font as graceful as the waterway in reference.

Additionally, the team created a logo for the sophisticated cocktail bar and lounge, Lighthaus, that takes a literal approach to the bar’s ‘lighthouse’ moniker and features a focused, yet roaming beam of light.

Unifying the three brands is a distinctive Mercedes me Beijing logo comprising a layered trio of ‘pebble’ shapes, evidence of each venue’s unique architectural ‘footprint’.

Founder and Creative Director of Thread Design, Ben Weldon, concluded “We’re particularly known for retail and hospitality projects, so it was a very exciting challenge to work so closely with Mercedes-Benz’s entirely different set of expertise to build something genuinely unique.”

Photography by Mercedes Me