Kitadoko Salon Space Design
Brand & Visual / Kitadoko
Brand & Visual · Rebranding · Service Design

Kitadoko — Hair Salon Rebranding

Transforming a 150-year-old family barbershop into a modern personal hair styling salon — business model redesign, service blueprint, new identity, and renovated interiors that raised repeat customers from 0% to 90%.

Client
Kitadoko Hair Salon
Role
Creative Director & Design Strategist
Heritage
Est. 1871 — 150+ years

The Opportunity

A 150-year-old family barbershop, underground and invisible from the street — 90% male clientele, zero repeat customers. The new owner's vision: transform it into a modern salon that women and younger clients would choose.

My Direction

I started with the business, not the aesthetics: an innovation bootcamp with the CEO, journey mapping, and a business-model redesign built around ongoing customer relationships. The strategic anchor became the tagline "Kitadoko as a group of personal hair stylists" — a salon positioned not as a place, but as people. The identity, letterforms, service flow, and renovated interiors all followed from that one idea.

Tools & Methods

Innovation Bootcamp Brand Audit BMC Business Tactics Cards Journey Mapping Service Blueprint Co-design Workshops

Before & After

Before 1871 — the shop the new owner inherited

Before — original KITADOKO storefront, brick facade with cluttered signage
Before — dark interior with 'Established in 1871' lettering
Before — old salon floor with styling chairs

Barbershop-era signage, a dark masculine interior, and a salon floor that hadn't changed with its customers.

After kitadoko — a group of personal hair stylists

After — new kitadoko entrance and signage
After — renovated bright salon interior
After — retail and reception area with new brand identity

A bright, welcoming space with the new lowercase wordmark — designed to be chosen by the customers the old shop never reached.

Results

91%
Customer satisfaction (4–5★)
Up from 62%
90%
Repeat customer rate
Up from 0%
200
Monthly visits per stylist
Up from 30
50%
Female clientele
Up from 10%

Process

01
Innovation Bootcamp
02
Brand Audit & Strategy
03
Business Model Redesign
04
Service Design
05
Brand Identity + Space Design

Space Design & Brand Identity

Kitadoko final wordmark
Kitadoko logo development animation
Kitadoko interior space language mood board
Kitadoko interior floor plan and facade render
Kitadoko cut & styling area and waiting area renders

Business & Service Design

Kitadoko's new Brand DNA — vision, promise, personality, assets
Business Model Canvas workshop — sticky notes from Kitadoko session
Existing vs. new business model — adding recurring premium services
Kitadoko service blueprint — before, during, after service
New service model — expanding from 3 to 9 personalized services

Brand Strategy & Development

Six-step strategy process — from research to ongoing improvement
Key findings from customer and employee experience research
Persona definition — Satoko Murakami, Kitadoko's target customer
Customer journey map — before, during, after service
Key findings translated into "what if" design opportunities
New brand tagline — Kitadoko as a group of personal hair stylists

Brand Applications

Kitadoko website
Kitadoko business cards and membership stamp cards
Kitadoko second store location

Impact, By the Numbers

Higher customer satisfaction — 62% to 91% rating customers 4 and 5 stars
Customer gender ratio shift — 90/10 male to 50/50 male-female
Per-customer sales increased — service mix expanded to Head Spa and Scalp Care

Deliverables

  • Experience Strategy
  • Customer Journey Map
  • Service Blueprint
  • Brand Strategy & Identity
  • Store & Space Design

Methods

  • Innovation Bootcamp
  • Business Model Canvas
  • Business Tactics Cards
  • Co-design Workshops
  • Stakeholder Interviews

Team

Client leadership team, Interior Design Company. I served as Creative Director and Design Strategist — leading brand direction, business model redesign, service design, and visual identity.

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