Client
Capitol Kitchen
Role
Branding development, visual, print, market positioning
Tools
Illustrator, Powerpoint, InDesign, Figma
Overview
As a completely new company, Capitol Kitchen didn’t have an existing logo or any branding elements. Everything was being built from the ground up! The stakeholders were looking for a logo that was nearly identical to the sister company, Capitol Distributing.
Final Deliverables
- Branding package & elements
- Product labels
- Sales tools
Branding
LOGO PROPOSAL
As previously stated, the company owner and president were looking for a logo that was nearly identical to it’s sister company, Capitol Distributing. While I did create a mockup with this design, I strongly advised against it. I discussed with them the concern about brand dilution and creating confusion for our customers. I pitched the idea of having the logos be ‘sisters, not twins.’ Luckily, they were very receptive. After a few iterations we came up with a logo that everyone involved was happy with.
COLORS
Purple is not generally front-of-mind when it comes to fresh deli food. However, it is a lively color and would definitely stand out in a deli set. It was initially brought up because it is the General Manager’s favorite color, but it carried through because the bright, fun combination of yellow and purple will appeal to a growing subset of convenience store food service consumers.
LABELS
CK labels are bright and lively. They stand out from the crowd and appeal to younger shoppers. The layout, text styles, and patterns allow a cohesive design across the whole label suite while the individual colors of each label allow customers to quickly find what they want. With 6 different frozen breakfast sandwiches, the ability to quickly find your favorite (sausage, egg, & cheese biscuit?) is crucial for customers in a fast convenience environment. It helps store employees as well, as they can quickly scan the hot case to see what is low without having to read each label (we all know customers move things around!).
ELEMENTS
CK is located internally on the CD campus. Because of this close integration of the companies, it felt okay to borrow elements from the Capitol Distributing branding suite. The icons are the same, with additions, but primarily in purple instead of navy. A new pattern was created (as well as a custom pattern for each food label based on ingredients) and instead of using a holding shape with a 90 degree arrow, a 90 degree color change is the primary decoration on simple documents.
PHOTOGRAPHY
The decision was made to keep all food photography extremely true to the product. Food photography is often a game of expectation vs. reality and it felt more honest this way. I took our initial round of photos on the dry sandwiches, and while they’re definitely not as polished as professionally shot photos, they are perfect for advertising to our convenience customers. The sandwiches are not stuffed, toppings are not pushed to the front, and they are picked straight off the line with the other sandwiches.
Website
The CK website is currently under construction. A wider product roll out has been delayed due to COVID, so items are primarily available in one chain of stores. As the company expands its offerings to more customers, the website will become more vital to CK’s growth.
