Packaging: Isle of Mull Scallops
Posted: February 23, 2012 Filed under: Food & Drink, Packaging | Tags: Art, black, blue, Box, branding, design, fish, Fishing, food, glasgow, graphic, harbour, identity, illustration, illustrative, label, logo-type, My Creative, opinion, packaging, premium, Quality, review, richard baird, scallops, scotland, sea, The Isle of Mull Scallops, typography 1 Comment »
The Isle of Mull is the brand and location of a three boat scallop operation that takes advantage of the mixing waters of the cool Atlantic and the warmth of the Gulf stream, shipping the catch across the UK. The company engaged Glasgow based boutique design agency My Creative to develop a packaging solution that would capture the unique traits of the location, the traditions and authenticity of the brand and quality of the product.
“Mull Scallops wanted to build on their reputation of quality seafood by building a brand that would be recognisable to the public and by suppliers. They needed labeling, packaging and a set of branding tools that would fit their brief of being authentic, honest and of course delicious.
The logotype design makes a bold statement on the packaging with the typography conveying a direct message of what the company produce in a very clear manner. A set of complementary colours were produced for each product – Chili, Organic Butter and Herd. The overall feeling of this brand was to represent a rustic outdoor vibe that carries a Scottish quality.
The composition of the woodcut illustration is of the Isle of Mull in the distance back-lit by the setting sun. The boat pulled up onto the shore at the end of an honest days work, gives a timeless quality and could be any century. Adding a sense of history to the brand.”
- Taken from My Creative’s Behance portfolio
This packaging project is a great example of the identification and utilisation of consumer-familiar design techniques executed with a simplicity that avoids appearing tired or generic. The clear combination of type, illustration and material each contribute another level of detail to the brand’s proposition.
The construction of the logo-type delivers all the traditional qualities people have come to associate with a serif typeface but with the agricultural and contemporary overtones of a slab serif. The raised and underlined detail implies heritage and tradition, this, along with the mixed character weights neatly breaks up a text heavy structure into digestible components. The imperfections of the ‘hand carved’ illustration emphasise a localised and genuine business practice and while the idea of an ‘honest days work’ might not be immediately perceptible it adds depth and stimulates the imagination into contemplating a untouched Scottish shoreline. These values have been captured and reinforced with a nicely drawn seal device that draws together the crafted qualities of the illustration and the structured, classic aspects of the type.
A colour palette of dark and earthy tones provide a wonderful and very contemporary contrast against the fresh, white and bright qualities of the scallops and butter. Printed on an uncoated, textured substrate and with an embossed treatment the packaging has a very cohesive and regional sensibility that, along with a strong sense of craft, experience, honesty and the outdoors contributes to a complete and engaging brand narrative.
More images available here.
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Richard BairdRichard is a British freelance designer and writer who specialises in the development of logos, branding and packaging. He has written for Brand New and Design Week, is an editor for The Dieline, has featured in Computer Arts magazine and also runs the resource Design Survival. |
I have a confession – I have done a lot of seafood packaging. Most of it B2B but none the less, the basic tenants remain. Recognisable brand, packaging to entice, designed to both be part of the sector and yet, stand out enough to be a focal point. Like the hottest kid at school. You remember them?
I like this packaging, it reminds me a little of a campaign Adnam’s did a few years back. It was nice, earthy, it had a bracing-sea-foam speckled feel to it with woodcut imagery being used to power the ad along. It looked just the ticket. And it worked – I have drunk their stuff since seeing the ad.
The only tiny little criticism I have is actually a big one though. It’s little because, well, it’s is little, it’s the branding. it looks and reads like a product description, it doesn’t say ‘OI!@# Mate!, over here, I’m the brand – remember me, gaze into my eyes, I guarantee you super fresh, authentic, succulent seafood.” – the problem is that it looks like any other text you might expect to see on the packaging. There’s no separation of church and state (for a piss poor analogy), I need/want/would like/would prefer to see a brand that stands apart and is supported by the main product message, for which thew brand on this would be perfect. Keep the white text as is and then in the flavour colour add “with organic herb butter” – nice and chunky and colourful. Job done.
Then top it off with a brand that has a chance of standing out and more importantly has a chance to grow. Personally, I think calling yourself ‘Isle of Mull Scallops’ is like painting yourself into a corner. I could offer so many other names but that’s not the point. I just think it’s a trick, missed. Like Eric Morcambe once said to Mr. Previn, “I’m playing all the right notes—but not necessarily in the right order.” It kind feels like he hit the nail on the head.