Plenty vertical lettuce farmer employs &Walsh for vibrant fast food-inspired packaging redesign

02 Feb 2021 --- Indoor vertical farming company Plenty has redesigned its brand identity in collaboration with US-based design agency &Walsh. 

Plenty’s two rebrand goals were to convey the uniquely craveable flavor of its produce and create a warmer and more approachable brand that felt “accessible to all.”

A green color palette might have been a logical choice for a kale and lettuce producer, but the revamp takes inspiration instead from fast food brands with ample use of reds and yellow to fortify brand recognition. 

“We wanted the packaging to look more like overtly flavorful food than leafy greens,” Lauren Walsh, head of strategy at &Walsh, tells PackagingInsights.

The design agency further reveals how designing a custom typography is “the most significant part of visual language” to strengthen brand recognition.

The Tasty Type
&Walsh was eager to take on the Plenty project, whose team arrived with “some really awesome ideas” and “an appetite to do something different.” 

When the shelf is the primary point of B2C engagement, it is incredibly important to look at the competitors, says &Walsh.“When we are working on a project where the primary point of engagement from consumer to brand is the shelf, it is incredibly important for us to look at what the competitors are doing there,” Walsh explains.

Having conducted color analysis on produce packaging at local grocery stores, &Walsh found that “warmth, accessibility and craveability” would be the key measures for the Plenty project.

What followed were six different design templates. “We typically do not show this many directions but the Plenty team is incredibly collaborative and talented and we wanted their feedback early in the process.”

The process from start to finish on this project was about six months, yielding the direction called “Tasty Type.” 

Getting the typeface and font right
Having selected Tasty Type, &Walsh went through many iterations on the lines and curves of the typeface. 

The design agency crafted Plenty’s custom typography for display sizes 32 pt and above, inspired by plants.Rather than sticking to typical healthy green visual cues, &Walsh took inspiration from the vibrant colors of fast food brands.

“It is a humanist sans serif with leaf-like corners and terminals. Wherever possible, the font avoids straight lines and is made up of curved and tapered strokes,” illustrates Walsh.

“The stroke endings are sharp and the curves are as round as a ripe tomato.”

The final result was a playful color palette with a welcoming custom font intended to “look and feel delicious.”

PackagingInsights previously reported on how packaging design plays a vital role in F&B storytelling.

Brand identity revamps from the past year include Cadbury’s chocolate global redesign and Mexican beer brand Sol’s handcrafted new labels. 

Other packaging redesigns covered low-waste detergents, goat cheese packaging and tubes for snacks.

By Anni Schleicher