From slim-pickin' to finger-lickin' -
Newcastle Uni campus eatery transformation

THE CHALLENGE
Eat@ is Newcastle University’s catering arm, comprising sixteen locations around campus for students, staff and visitors to purchase a variety of main meals, snacks, light lunches and drinks. The Central café was situated opposite a competitor, offering a popular coffee chain among other treats. The University’s spot was more corporate, the décor was tired, and it tended to blend in with the campus design and surroundings. The challenge was to make the offering much more student orientated, visually appealing and to increase footfall. .
"Chicken Shack is one of the most exciting projects that AlphaGraphics have completed for us!

From the initial brief and concepts through to the finishing touches, the level of service and the quality of workmanship has been excellent!"
Megan Robson
Food & Beverage Manager
THE CAMPAIGN
AG Education began with a site visit – reviewing the current space and its customers in detail. The venue already served a predominantly chicken based menu, and following market research (which we’ll admit, did involve a few chicken nuggets), an idea sprung to life – a complete rebrand, with development starting immediately on The Chicken Shack!

Our design team set about creating the logo and outlining the colour palette and brand guidelines. Going for an original, aged print aesthetic in logo, we then continued to develop a mock up room visual as part of our proposal. The University team loved it, and so the design was developed further with our Graphic Design Studio into a full café redesign, including printed wallpaper and vinyl wraps to cover counters and kitchen areas, plus window vinyls to bring a fresh aesthetic and make it much more student friendly.

We went the whole hog – welcoming our Hen Based Shell-ebrities (see what we did there?) including Lindsey Lo-hen and Cluck Norris to adorn the walls in colourful frames. The wallpaper and vinyl wraps were printed, cut and installed by our Large Format Department. We heralded the opening with some fab flags, also designed and printed by AG Education. 

THE IMPACT
The redesign speaks for itself – the overhaul of the eatery is visually impactful, providing a more enjoyable venue for students and staff which has resulted in an increase in footfall to boot!

TESTIMONIALS
"The rebrand of Central into Chicken Shack was the first of (hopefully) a series of full campus identity refurbishments that eat@Newcastle would like to carry out alongside the AG Education team.

The AG team has worked to very tight deadlines on this, managing to take the project from concept to delivery in a few weeks, just in time for a launch during Freshers’ Week, helping us maximise impact.

The finished product is modern and relevant, reflecting the identity of the café and the direction we want to take it in. Staff in the unit are really excited about the changes, and we have had numerous comments from both staff and students who all love the new vibe!" 


Ania Remlein
Marketing and Communications Coordinator

"The Catering Department of the University have been working with AG Education for many years, and we were really pleased to get the opportunity to make some big changes to an outlet that needed updating.

This is one of the most exciting projects that AG Education have completed for us, and from the initial concepts through to the finishing touches, the service and quality of workmanship has been excellent.

AG went above and beyond to develop a modern, student-friendly area to socialise and eat for all on campus. Open only a few months, we have already received both excellent feedback and an increase in turnover! We’re looking forward to starting the next project!"


Megan Robson
Food & Beverage Manager

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