Food
A brand to spark curiosity — instead of telling people to eat their vegetables.
Curation Foods (Landec) was making a move into natural foods after building a business of commodity produce. They needed a brand that would resonate — which meant digging deeply into the reasons people choose foods in the first place.
In grocery stores, we saw an arms race. Packaging touted “free from” claims, nutritional benefits, and preachy food philosophies. Our segmentation data showed a large, young audience whose diet was majority plant-based. But they weren’t strictly vegan. They weren’t setting out to eat foods that were good for them. Instead, they over-indexed on interest in unique flavors.
We set out to celebrate flavor, discovery, and delight.
my role
Analysis of market segmentation
Competitive brand audit
Positioning + rounds of refinement
Brand manifesto + principles
Brand and product naming
Packaging copywriting
Pitch deck for sales meetings
Support for visual design
My work was a process of articulating big ideas, in ways would spark enthusiasm in the client’s senior leadership and get our teams on the same page. So I dug into writings on Wabi-Sabi and the work of horticulturists. I asked deep questions about the flavor of carrots. I wove in analogues about VSCO, trail running, and street art — ways of making people notice their surroundings with fresh eyes.
Eventually, we arrived at Now Planting.
Once I set the brand foundations, I stayed involved through every phase of design. Now Planting needed to feel like an invitation — through its logo design, illustrations, packaging, photography, and website. We made a million decisions, and I eventually summarized all the design work and business case into a pitch deck.
One year later, Now Planting soups are available in major grocery chains throughout the US and Canada. The brand is changing the conversation about food one taste at a time — without a vegan, gluten-free label in sight.
