Hieu Bui
Owner/Manager
Vietnamese Kitchen

"I met Kevin in 2011 when I was introduced to by David Archer Architects. I was looking to build a modern but authentic restaurant in Soho, together with a new Vietnamese sandwich deli. The design that Kevin brought to us, to work with David’s design, was a perfect match and successful. For the Deli, it says our message about a delicious deli in a modern Asian setting and concept. In Soho, we became a very first branded Vietnamese Restaurant in term of food quality and design. Kevin has helped us from the colour theme, signage to menu, which now a great success.

Taking that success further, Kevin has come to change Cay Tre Old St and Viet Grill, with a new approaching of modern font, creative menu setting, promoting dishes with good margin in a very engineered mind layout, helped to sell dishes with high margin in by a well and thoughtful design menu, in a very modern but still authentic Asian design. The company was going stronger and stronger, sales was up by 15% alone,  and Kevin has made our restaurants and deli to be looked branded in a exotic way."

Clare Lattin
Restaurant Consultant
Vietnamese Kitchen

"When Kevin started working with the Vietnamese Kitchen, the three (now four) restaurants had little or no brand identity and certainly no connection between the different restaurants. He immediately worked on an analysis of the restaurants, finding their story and creating a look for each restaurant site that connected the different restaurants and bringing them together under one umbrella without making them look a chain. Suddenly if you were sitting on Shoreditch you somehow felt there was a similarity to the experience you'd had in Soho.

Kevin designed and unified the logos for each of the site and did so with a true passion and interest for what the restaurants stand for. It was a pleasure to work with a designer who had a genuine interest in the past, present and future of the restaurants and their stories. Kevin also designed the branding for Keu! – a Banh Mi deli that the Vietnamese Kitchen to expand further on, bringing it to a number of London high streets. Kevin has helped establish this Banh Mi outlet as 'the best in London' a statement declared by restaurant critic Marina O'Loughlin (Metro, at the time) currently The Guardian.

Today, all of the restaurants are extremely well thought of, with an integrity in all that they do. Kevin has been instrumental in changing this – for these restaurants it wasn't just a case of coming up with an identity in its logo, it was about improving the whole experience. Kevin designed the menu's, posters and blackboards that you will see in each of the restaurants, his designs have helped increase spend per head dramatically in some of the sites. His work with Vietnamese Kitchen has been hugely well received and above all successful."

Tanja Diklic
Head of Marketing and Business Development
Petosevic

"Kevin was instrumental in creating our brand and identity. When we first started to plan for this project, we looked at a number of companies to help us develop our brand. What set Kevin apart is that he took a true interest in finding out about who we are and what our needs may be.  He is perceptive, dedicated and holistic in his approach. He asked a lot of questions and really got to know us. As a result, he was able to create a brand that really spoke to who we are. We ourselves were not aware of it then. He saw it before we did.

Today, years after, we can look and assess results of our new brand. The tremendous success is undeniable and the numbers speak for themselves. We had double digit growth in revenue in the period from 2009-2013, after we launched our brand in May 2009. Granted, we provide quality service but in order to distinguish ourselves from the competition in 30 countries of Eastern Europe, we needed a new image. Kevin helped us accomplish this, with much success."

Sandra Molerinho
Creative Director
Babajaan

"Kevin Helas has collaborated with our company on the development of the concepts for our website. It was such a pleasure to work with Kevin, his creativity combined with sensitivity make his work special and unique from other creative directors that collaborated with us in the past. Another key element of his work is also the ability to communicate and to understand very well the client and the creative team. Amazing skills to perceive, translate the company's vision into a creative and unique straight forward format."

Julia Burness
Owner/Creative Director
Julia Burness Jewellery

"Kevin Helas came on board to help me totally rebrand the image of my jewellery business – Julia Burness Jewellery. He created both a logo and a crest for the identity of the brand, designed a complete website, business cards, jewellery boxes and acted as a consultant on a marketing project. I had been in business for two years prior to meeting Kevin and I was lost with regards to my branding – I had previously rushed having a couple of websites made and had not been happy with them. I really needed a new identity – one that matched the status of the retailers and labels I was aiming to be sold at and with.

I believe that Kevin's branding completely changed the course of my business for me – I am now confident with the image my business is projecting and this is reflected in the response I have received. This year I was nominated and became a Finalist for the New Designer of the Year Award and my jewellery is now being sold nationally and internationally in London, Milan, New York and Madrid. In the fashion industry it is extremely important to get the first impression right and I doubt I would have stood a chance with the shops I am currently stocked at prior to Kevin's design work. Some of my stockists now include JOSEPH, The Shop at Bluebird, Flat 128 in New York and La Tenda in Milan.

Kevin started by finding out exactly what it was that I wanted for my business. This is more difficult than it sounds and he managed to get to the root of my aims and what inspired me through constant inquiring and listening. His designs developed over the weeks and he was persistent in wanting to get each stage just right. Working alongside him was a pleasure, he is meticulous and conscientious but also managed to work within the time frame I am had allocated to him – It was important to me to get the brand out 'there' as soon as possible.

My direction is more honed at the luxury markets. Although that was always my aim, I am further along the path now and feel that people come to me more rather than me having to market myself to them so much. One of the things I wanted when we met was to create a brand that sold itself and I could focus on the creative and that is what I feel we have achieved."