MERCHI (메르치)
Category
Branding
Packaging
Visual Identity
Type
Personal Project
Awards
AsPAC Awards
“Merchi” is a stylized Gyeongsang dialect pronunciation of myeolchi, meaning anchovy. Its Hangul logo, inspired by old Korean shop signs and newspaper ads, gives the brand a culturally rooted yet fresh visual identity.
MERCHI is a restaurant for a Korean anchovy cuisine brand in the USA. Designed for the Korean diaspora while inviting American audiences, the brand reimagines anchovy as a source of curiosity, nostalgia, and cultural discovery.
Merchi’s visual identity is inspired by the familiar connection between anchovies and newspaper in Korean everyday life — from fish wrapped in newspaper at markets to mothers cleaning dried anchovies over newspaper at home. These memories became the basis for an editorial graphic system, where information about anchovies is designed in a newspaper format. Rather than using newspaper as a simple pattern, Merchi uses it as a storytelling medium that makes the ingredient and Korean food culture more approachable.
The goal of Merchi is to evoke nostalgia for Korean immigrants while offering American diners an honest yet refined encounter with Korean food culture.
By balancing everyday rawness with modern restraint, Merchi transforms a humble ingredient into an unexpected dining experience—inviting audiences to discover anchovy as something unfamiliar, memorable, and culturally rich.
