Logo and Brand Identity for FRÜT
The makers of FRÜT, Paul Kradin and Steve Bauerfeind, were tired of the overly sweet jam store brands and wanted a simple preserve that highlights the flavor of sensational fruit combinations. They decided to use imperfect fruit that’s been rescued from farms that had it rejected by supermarkets, mixing up some rarely-found flavor combos to create Preserves with 100% fruit. Zero sugar. Not even other natural sweeteners. They believe the fruit speaks for itself if it’s left alone. I can confirm! They also make delish just-nut Nutbutters (with just a little Himalayan salt). Creating the logo and brand identity for FRÜT was yummy!
The Goal
Create an identity system that is…
• modern
• fresh
• fun
• valuable
• welcoming
• flexible
• consistent
• distinctive
• not reliant on the usual jam, preserves, etc. branding – images of fruit
Scope
– Logo System & Brand Identity
– Typography & Color
– Packaging
Wordmark & Icons
In developing Paul’s idea of what he envisioned for the logo, I created structured and balanced custom lettering based on a prelim sketch from Steve. Stretching that idea, I added a circle element pulled from the umlaut over the “U” to form a distinct treatment of the “F.” From there, I used that F as a brand element, which appears on the food packaging, along with the stripes, to representing the brand, the fruit and to denote flavor combinations.
Color & Type
The primary logo and text color remain consistent through brand identity, while the palette for the graphic elements representing flavor borrow directly from the fruit they represent. Because FRÜT has so many flavor combinations that results in quite the rainbow.
The Packaging
Because FRÜT only makes what’s in season, not everything is available all the time, flexibility needed to be built into the packaging design process and identity system. They asked me to come up with a way to build consistent visuals, while distinguishing 15 fruit flavors, and 6 nutbutters. Paul had the idea of using the fruit’s initials in a periodic table-kind of way, to call out flavor combos. From there, I came up with a way create something bold, modern, fun and inviting that would stand out on a shelf or in a fridge, differentiating them from the crowd, or from one flavor sitting next another. And, without relying on images of fruit as visual identity.
Anatomy
Keying off the central idea of there almost always being two flavors in the preserves and nutbutters to create the distinctive color wheel that animates FRÜT’s jars. With each fruit and nut being assigned its own color, all the combinations have an automatic two-tone wrap.
Stripes for a bright, bold and modern vibe, and the juxtaposed circles within the “F” led to using those shapes as a distinct branding element, representing the fruit. Bright, colorful and representative of all of the flavor combos, while remaining clean and simple.
The Nutbutters
Because nuts have a similar hue to one another, I made a tweak to the system for the nutbutters – they always feature a chocolate stripe beneath a nut hue. The overall effect is a burst of color that evokes a sense of freshness and simplicity in the recipes.
Box Packaging & Collateral Identity and Layout Concepts
Fleshed out packaging and identity items were not part of the first round of design, as they weren’t immediately in need. I have pushed the visual identity out, as prototype.
