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Packaging and brand for national retail

As senior graphic designer at Best Express Foods, I designed packaging, SKU color systems, and identity for national retail brands, and directed the product lifestyle photography.

Role: Senior graphic designer.
Company: Best Express Foods, food and retail
Timeline: 2019-2024
Team: Creative Director, Buyers, and Printers
Scope: Packaging, SKU color systems, identity, product lifestyle photography
Result: Successful product rollout at Costco, Instacart, Walmart, and Safeway

Problem

Best Express Foods sells to national retail brands. For Paleo Bars, that meant a package that had to work across several vendor formats and still stand out in a crowded clean-eating aisle.

Role

I was the senior graphic designer, responsible for packaging, SKU color systems, identity, and product lifestyle photography.

Process

A color system for the SKUs

I worked with the R&D team while the products were still being developed. I'd take each ingredient list and sketch ideas around the main ingredient, and that pulled me into color theory in food.

Packaging and identity

Lifestyle photography

I set up the studio in-house, with props chosen for each product we were shooting and for the specific retailer. I mapped out a rough idea and went over it with my team to check that it was the look and feel we wanted for that project.

Early direction: red, yellow, and light blue

A second early comp of the Paleo Bars wrapper as a flat print layout with guide lines. The layout matches the first, with a red front panel and a white panel with the badge and certification marks, but the bands are yellow and dark blue instead of yellow and light blue, and the red is a deeper shade. — Early direction: red, yellow, and dark blue

The final Paleo Bars packaging on a white marble surface: a bar in a wrapper that is half red with the name Paleo Bars and the net weight, and half clear so the bar shows through. A red badge reads Grain Free, Dairy Free, No Refined Sugars, with USDA Organic and Certified Paleo marks on the clear half. More wrapped bars sit around it. — Final packaging: a wrapper that is half clear and half brand color, as shipped

Solution

The 20-count pack: individually wrapped bars in a clear tray, with one label for the whole pack

The final wrapper as a flat print layout: front panel, badge, certification marks, and the nutrition and ingredients panels

An 8 ounce clear tub of Paleo Bars on a white background. A white label on the lid shows Organic and Grain Free, the name Paleo Bars, a photo of a bar, the USDA Organic and Certified Paleo marks, and the net weight. A hanging tag carries the nutrition facts, and a deep red label on the front of the tub reads Paleo Bars with the USDA Organic mark. — The 8 oz tub: bars in a clear container, with a front label and a hanging label

A close-up photo of two Paleo Bars stacked on top of each other on a pastel green background, showing the texture of the nuts, seeds, and chia in the bars. — Lifestyle photography: two bars, close up, on a pastel green background

Outcome

What I'd change

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