McDonald's appoints Boxer to pan-European project

McDonald's has appointed strategic design agency Boxer to develop a signage system for its European restaurants, as it seeks to highlight extended opening hours.

The world's leading foodservice retailer wants to communicate the key message that many of its outlets are now opening longer hours; in some cases, 24 hours a day.

McDonald's briefed Boxer to develop a consistent look and feel for this signage, so that customers can immediately understand and recognise the extended opening hours wherever they are in Europe.

Recognising that we live in an increasingly busy, 24-hour society, McDonald's wants to emphasise to customers that its 6,400 restaurants in Europe are available for them whenever they need it.

A growing number of its restaurants have recently extended their opening hours to open later into the night, early in the morning and even 24 hours in many cases.

Boxer has developed modern signage for the extended opening hours, which is fully integrated with the overall restaurant signage system.

Helen Tanasijczuk, Account Manager at Boxer, explained: "The new logotype has the flexibility to communicate a specific message - either 'extended hours' or 'open 24h' - as well as the ability to work across a number of different formats, from a 20-metre high sign at the store entrance to door stickers, posters and in-store point-of-purchase.

We also considered the importance of stand-out in a variety of different European languages".

Following in-depth research into how the message was communicated across various stores, Boxer has created a design on three background colour options - blue, green and black - to work on all internal and external communication points.

The design consists of an arrow graphic to communicate the extended hours message, and incorporates the 'brand font' to link in with the McDonald's brand values.

Boxer, which recently announcer plans to establish a network of international offices to support its aspirations as a global design business, will effectively coordinate the extended opening hours signage in Europe.

The agency will liaise with local contacts to produce artwork according to individual specifications.

Eric Bourgeois, Head of the Design Studio at McDonald's Europe, said: "We are pleased that the new signage created by Boxer has high visibility, works across a variety of formats and languages, and is in alignment with our latest restaurant designs.

"With the help of the new signage, McDonald's will become a destination of choice for existing and new customers during the extended opening hours".

The new signage will be rolled out across Europe throughout 2008.

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