The ask: Design a package and collateral branding for a dried food product. Your brand theme must portray a South African flavour regarding visuals, copy and content. You may use any of the official South African languages or an informal 'street style' combination thereof.
The non-perishable food product I chose was ramen, since it is my go-to quick meal on days when I am too tired to cook and am just craving something tasty, comforting and instant. Since ramen originates in China, Japan and Korea, the branding tends to emphasise this Asian identity. However, South Africans love ramen and enjoy meaty spicy flavours as well.
In order to bring this Asian-derived meal into a South African context, I created a brand name "Sharp Sharp" which is South African slang that means "good, cool, yes and okay". The phrase "sharp sharp" originated in the township but has become a common phrase of camaraderie amongst urban South Africans of all races and cultures.
For the "Sharp Sharp" logo text, I used a chiseled marker typeface that reflects a graffiti marker that one would use to tag a wall. This kind of marker is also used as a sign writer for spaza storefronts and for specials on groceries and airtime. The type is also sharp and quintessentially South African in feeling, but is approachable due to the hand-done humanist quality of the type. The zig zag pattern was borrowed from traditional bantu textiles and murals.
For the "ramen spicy soup noodles" text, a soft and squishy kawaii-inspired typeface was used. This reflects the soft and comforting texture of cooked ramen noodles, as well as ramen's Japanese origin.
The noodle pattern was created using a rounded zig zag, which was repeated in rows to represent the way ramen noodles tend to stick together and form long threads of noodles that are seemingly infinite.
Shisa nyama beef was the flavour chosen since it is a uniquely South African flavour. The deep brown background colour allows the pale yellow noodle pattern to pop and will be eye catching on a shelf in a packed spaza full of snack foods.
I chose a cup design with a peel-away lid so that the consumer could simply add boiling water and allow the noodles to cook in the packaging itself, and then consume the noodles directly from the container. This was to maximise the brand as a convenience food for urban people on the go.
PACKAGING DESIGN WITH DIECUT LINES FOR PRINT
STICKER SHEET WITH DIECUT LINES FOR PRINT
PACKAGING PROTOTYPE TOP LID
PACKAGING PROTOTYPE WITH LID AND BASE SHOWING STICKER COLLATERAL
PACKAGING PROTOTYPE CLOSE-UP VIEW
STICKER SAMPLE AND SOCK DESIGN MOCKUP
TSHIRT COLLATERAL MOCKUP
