brand discovery, solutions architecture, website design
Kimochi offers a fruit-forward twist to traditional treats. Founded by Italian-Japanese pastry chef Gemma Matsuyama (who has worked with some of LA’s most iconic restaurants such as n/Naka and Bestia), the shop’s specialty lies in crafting exquisite daifuku (fresh fruit mochi), emphasizing the use of premium quality ingredients to deliver wholesome, natural dessert experiences. The name kimochi is a play on the Japanese words ki (meaning “energy”) and mochi (the name of a traditional Japanese rice cake) — a fitting name for Gemma’s creations, which hold so much life and beauty with every bite.
The first time I had Gemma’s incredible daifuku, I had to take a seat and enjoy my first piece to its fullest. Biting into the sweetest fruit, wrapped at its peak moment of ripeness in freshly handmade mochi paste, felt like a moment of peace and stillness — a reminder to slow down and appreciate the beauty of life’s little things. In 2024, the universe brought Gemma and me together to start laying down a blueprint to grow the amazing philosophy of Kimochi into a scalable concept. We collaborated to create a framework that will allow Gemma to expand the magic & messaging of her fruit mochi across a range of creative projects.
I’m forever grateful to Gemma for trusting me to dream with her on the possibilities for Kimochi. It’s such an honor to be a small part of her journey as she continues to breathe life into this beautiful concept.
From the beginning, Gemma and I knew that a website would likely be the main deliverable for our first collaboration. But with several concepts and ideas on the horizon, the challenge would be in making sure we started off small with a strong foundation to ensure we had something tangible to kickstart the journey.
Aesthetically, we had to make sure whatever we created had to have a vibe that was just right — anything we created, we wanted to make sure it had a clean, natural look and feel for the food and scenery. With Gemma’s mochi quickly becoming an iconic establishment within San Diego’s culinary pop-up community, we also had to make sure the site felt familiar and approachable to the city’s laid-back, sunny culture — nothing too pretentious for a city that prides itself on being decidedly more “chill” than its rival creative hubs to the North.
So while we had avant-garde and luxe design imagery from Paris and Japan on our moodboard, we knew we also had to strike the perfect balance of visual originality and local familiarity.
The first step in our plan was to build a branding discovery questionnaire to better understand Kimochi’s current business as well as the vision for how it should expand. These responses provided a solid path for us to then identify the core needs of the business in order to provide a solid foundation that could be scaled for expansion in the future. We identified a couple of core goals:
Once we identified the core goals, I got to work comparing website platforms cross-checking the core business needs with basic out-of-the-box functionalities that Gemma could easily set up for her immediate needs. Based on the goals and plan outlined in the Brand Strategy Questionnaire, we decided to build a plan that includes a website built on the Squarespace platform, as the platform includes more out-of-the-box features that support storytelling, gated content, and digital products such as online classes.
*Pricing referenced from 2024
Once we identified the core goals, I got to work comparing website platforms cross-checking the core business needs with basic out-of-the-box functionalities that Gemma could easily set up for her immediate needs. Based on the goals and plan outlined in the Brand Strategy Questionnaire, we decided to build a plan that includes a website built on the Squarespace platform, as the platform includes more out-of-the-box features that support storytelling, gated content, and digital products such as online classes.
The website launched with a simple structure, but lots of fun, playful elements to celebrate Gemma’s beautiful mochi. The site is a love note to the incredible craftsmanship of Gemma’s culinary talents — and to the photographic magic of Angie Huang of @ahuangphoto, Stephanie Chen of @ohmotherfudger, and Erica of Alternative Standards (@altstd.co) that so beautifully captures Kimochi’s inspired creations.
Brand Discovery
Solutions Architecture Blueprint
Website
Figma, Squarespace
Gemma Matsuyama (@kimochi.us)
Angie Huang of Angie Huang Photo,
lifestyle photography on film (@ahuangphoto)
Stephanie Chen of ohmotherfudger,
lifestyle photography on digital (@ohmotherfudger)
Erica of Alternative Standards,
product photography (@altdstd.co)
