3 Hospitality Branding Trends You’ll See Everywhere in 2026
From Box Eight’s start to today, the hospitality industry has evolved in countless ways. Whether it’s new ways of dining, fast casual service and the ever-creeping bowl phenomenon, or the general public welcoming new cuisines with open arms; every change in service has been met with a change in brand. Looking forward into 2026, we’ve pinpointed three major trends that will continue alongside the ever-changing hospitality industry that could be a good fit for your concept.
Getting Down and Dirty - Hand-made Craft in a Digital Age
The easier it is to make something, the safer everything feels. Being able to quickly make a logo for your business, build out menus with a template, and ship off merch to a print-to-order apparel store are some of the greatest things to happen for a small business. However, when you’re able to do everything easily, the effort of an artist shines even brighter.
From custom illustrations that only your space is known for, elaborate multi-layered print menus, or finding a local sign painter to execute your signage, the personal touch is felt so heavily in the hospitality industry. Think of it like a microwave dinner versus omakase: the first is safe, simple, and ready-to-go, but you’d rather have something personal, artful, and built to be remembered.
Riding The Nostalgia Train - Finding Comfort in Classic Visuals
As life gets more uncertain by the day, more and more brands call back to better days, even if their clients weren’t around for them. From neon Y2K color schemes to swooshy 70’s logo type, almost every brand can find a time period that suits their concept.
Nostalgia allows customers to be open to new experiences, if it feels like something they know and love already, a weirder menu item might be a bit more palatable. This isn’t just about being trendy: it’s about offering guests a sense of comfort, familiarity, and warmth.
Magnifying The Narrative - Storytelling In Every Piece of Your Brand
Storytelling has always been a powerful branding tool, but in 2026, it becomes non-negotiable. Guests want to know why you exist, not just what you offer. Every touchpoint — from your coasters to your social media captions, is an opportunity to tell a piece of your story.
Successful hospitality brands are leaning into hyper-specific origin stories, local culture, and community connections. Instead of generic slogans, you'll see brands using voice, humor, and history to create clear connections with their customers. Even a simple coffee cup becomes a storytelling canvas: who grew the beans, why the blend was chosen, what it says about the place. It’s not just branding, it’s narrative immersion.
A Case Study - Bobbi's Detroit-ish Pizza
Earlier this year, we helped build a new concept by the team behind Sherkaan that highlights each of these three trends.
1.) When developing the brand, it became clear that driving home the brand’s retro vibe and bringing out the pizza’s geometry was going to be a challenge. To find a solve for this, instead of finding a foundry font, we developed Huey Display, Bobbi’s bespoke typeface by hand. Inspired as much by Duck Hunt as it was Detroit pizza, this font allows even the simplest of merch opportunities to feel branded and ownable.
2.) To bring the vibrancy of the restaurant’s namesake into the brand, we landed on a 1970s-meets-2020s illustration style that could suit an arcade cabinet or a sick graphic tee.
3.) Rather than traditional pizza imagery, Bobbi's is based off of the head chef's mom: a funky purple lady who was a motorcycle-riding flower child back in the day. As such, we weaved her story throughout in subtle (and not so subtle) ways, whether it be the brand illustrations and core color, or the nonchalant yet casually quirky tone of voice.
