Urban Soup GmbH is a Munich-based startup. It was founded in 2015 by Tim Maiwald and Daniel Schmel, both students at the time. Their mission was to create delicious soups for sipping straight out of the jar – and by doing so, play the ubiquitous fast-food chains at their own game.

Task. Develop and implement a brand and retail design concept for market testing with the aim of rolling out a nationwide franchise.

Approach. Starting from an examination of what determines urbanity, the creative approach was built on themes of improvisation, connectivity and privacy, and subcultural communication. The core idea of “We´re working on it” reflected the individual themes and brought together all design activities.

The modular structure created flexible, customizable design options for both corporate and interior design while showcasing the distinctive brand profile. Individual store designs drew on the modules for colour scheme (e.g. “Potato Soup” base colour used for all materials), materials (perforated wood, mesh, neon lighting, steel, glass) and styling (walls of posters, defined elements of improvisation, wall graphics).