Dakota Nguyen ︎ Design & Direction

I shape brands, sandbox systems, sharpen experiences, and drive measurable growth.


Leading design for auth0.com @ Okta.
Previously Art Director @ Endy.


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Ngoặm

Featured in Branding

Ngoặm began as a cult-favourite online business. Their house specialty is burgers made gourmet with traditional Vietnamese ingredients and cooking techniques, elevating an otherwise comfort food to a fine-dining level dish.

As Ngoặm made its brick-and-mortar debut, a unique visual identity was essential to the brand's new chapter.


Year

2021

Scope

Brand Positioning, Identity System, Packaging Design, Art Direction

Client

Ngoặm

Team

Agency: Studio COHE
Showcase Photography: Bao Khanh Photography
Stylist & Art Director: Dakota Nguyen





Concept

At Ngoặm, cuisine from all corners meet, greet, and fuse.

Using ransom letters as a motif, the visual identity aims to position Ngoặm as the place for experimental cuisine, where each taste reflects its cultural DNA, and where diversity becomes unity.





Logo

The logotype features a selection of eclectic typefaces, including a custom letter "Ặ" that visually represents a bite mark, alluding to the name's meaning in Vietnamese (to bite/devour). The letter "G" is also designed to resemble the original Ngoặm logo, honouring their homegrown legacy.




I took it further with the ransom treatment by turning “Ngoặm” into an anagram. Each word in the brand’s slogan “Ăn Ngon Ngoặm No” is a reconstruction from the anagram, along with mmmmany other words in the Vietnamese vernacular.



Colour Palette

Ngoặm built their brand recognition via the cờ hội (five-color flag), a cultural staple in traditional festivities. To Ngoặm, every burger is a celebration. Naturally, I integrated the flag’s vibrant tones into the colour palette.





Graphic System

Ngoặm recycles food scraps into new ingredients. This practice inspired the pattern design, which recycles the negative space cut-outs of the icon. There are no set rules to the amalgamation, hence endless possibilities in building graphic assets. Zero-waste FTW.

























































Ngoặm's mission is to celebrate diversity and give back to the community by offering gourmet meals at accessible price points, reusing food scraps to reduce waste, and teaching the art of cooking to those inspired.





“Burger smoked with hay, served on a red lacquer plate, adorned with flowers and five-color flags.”