MAMA
Logo build + Label design.
THE BRIEF
Logo build and Label Designs
CLIENT
MAMA
MY ROLE
Design and Art Direction
TOOLS USED
Figma
SUMMARY
This sauce producer needed label designs created for their new products and additionally needed a logo rendered from an artists concept.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Mama Sauces are a startup Filipino Streetfood company based in Flanders, Belgium and run by Chis and his wife Dian.
The popular home made food and sauces being sold locally were in need of branding, labels and signage and Chris the company owner and Director reached out to me for discussions and creative help with the project.
During the first consultation call I discovered the client had already made progress on a logo design in liaison with an artist who had actually drawn and coloured the agreed concept on paper combining the Philippines flag with the Belgium flag for a unique look to the brand.
The original artist drawing of the logo concept.
THE BRIEF
With the logo design already agreed, my task would be to create a vector version ready for digital as well as print as the logo will be used on business cards, website, signage, car stickers, uniforms and t-shirts.
In addition the client wanted several label designs incorporating the logo which would be used for their range of bottled spicy sauces which up to now were annonymous with no labels.
Owners Chris & Dian.
PHILIPPINES DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM
During the discovery call the client specified a custom font called Barabara to be used in the logo as this typeface is in use in the Philippines and would be a recognisable style to the community and a taste of home.
I did some research and found that the font was created in 2019 as an all caps only typeface for the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) and is based on a hand painted style used on Jeepneys.
Jeepneys are buses and the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They are known for their crowded seating and kitsch hand painted decorations which have become a widespread symbol of Philippine culture and art. The hand painted style is a recognised symbol of the country and culture and the font seeks to capture this artform.
Jeepney image from the Philippines Department of Tourism.
TYPOGRAPHY
As the Barabara typeface is best for headline text and will suit the logo title, we also needed a secondary font for use in the labels.
Ahead of working on creating the logo, I went ahead and tested multiple options around typeface pairings and shared initial ideas and recommendations with the client to get the ball rolling.
Working in Figma I picked out several fonts to test and review, and one seemed to stand out in combination with the Barabara font, Microgramma D Extended, a sans serif font from 1952 that has been popular for use with technical illustrations and was a favourite of graphic designers by the early seventies.
Microgramma was also used in many films such as Star Trek, Back to the Future, and several Gerry Anderson productions.
The client liked the look right away and approved the combination.
The Barabara title font along with potential pairings.
PROTOTYPING & LOGO BUILD
With some initial research, testing and prototyping completed, I was able to turn my attention to recreating the hand drawn logo as vectors.
I began working in Inkscape to establish some base shapes and ensure correct proportions as I put together the pieces needed to build to complete artwork.
The 3 main pieces of the logo created in Inkscape ready to be combined.
ADDING THE COMPANY NAME
As I worked with the logo I had concerns that the design may not scale well for certain media such as business cards due to the sun ray elements being thin.
In trying out different stroke thickness the client wasnt keen on the heavier look and approved the final artwork version below.
The final look of the logo including the company name.
THE LABELS
With the logo completed, I turned my attention to the label designs and created several layouts incorporating the logo, the sauce type and company website, combining the 2 fonts chosen for the branding.
I put together the label designs plus some mocks of the labels on bottles to help show the look on a product.
Later in the process I learned that the print company chosen for the print run were specifying a round label and this provided a reduced option and focus on that layout specification.
Iterating label designs with text in English and Flemish.
THE CHILLI PEPPERS
During review and feedback rounds the client mentioned that they may like to indicate the spice strength on the labels which I thought would be a great addition and extra visual interest for the design.
I spent some time researching other sauce brands and the different styles of chilli peppers and also took a look at different ready made icons but was not satisfied with the look and feel. I proposed to create my own chilli pepper illustrations as custom artwork for the project.
In figma I created some chillli pepper shapes to play with as I styled them into a look that I felt would suit the brand. The client liked the ideas and I began incorporating them into the label designs ready for further feedback rounds.
FINALISING LABEL DESIGNS
With the logo, round layout, and new chilli icons approved, I put together the final rounds of iterations for the labels incorporating the clients final feedback notes to add in the product millilitre capacity.
EXTRA MOCKS
As a bonus, I also spent some time puting together some extra mocks to show the labels added to products in these mocks to help the client visualise how these could look with the company branding.
DESIGN HYPERLAPSE VIDEO
During development of the logo and mocks to show the client the artwork placed on products, I also made a screen recording of my workflow as a demo and speeded it up to provide a behind the scenes look at the process for interest.
WRAPPING THINGS UP
After finalising the deliverables for all assets exported as sets of SVGs, PNGs, JPGs, and PDFs, I remained on hand for client or print shop feedback, amends or questions but everything went smoothly and the labels and logos were used in online marketing and print runs completed for adding the branding to sauce bottles, signage, and business cards.
CONCLUSION
The deliverables of logo and labels created as SVGs have made an impact in improved customer product recognition and promotion as well as brand awareness.