Stuzzi by Perron-Roettinger

Hot sauce branding has long been dominated by certain overarching tropes: there’s the hyper-trad (Cholula, Tabasco, Sriracha et al); the twee of the kitchen-table-scale small-batch brigade; and the I WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF! camp where products have names like ‘death’. In the first and second of those camps in particular, there’s a lot of decent branding. But this new...

Bettr by Anak

Between the late 2000s and the early 2010s, the coffee industry turned its attention to ‘craft’, elevating the beverage to a gourmet offering. When it came to brand storytelling, flavour notes, provenance and sustainability became key components. These features came to define what’s now known as ‘third-wave coffee’, which pre-dates the gamified science-infused ‘fourth-wave coffee’ movement in terms of textures...

Story Espresso by For the People

The unity of coffee-boffins and great typographic choices seems to be having a moment right now on BP&O. Just the other week we covered the truly superb work for Dark Arts Coffee by Not Wieden + Kennedy. Now, though, we’re heading down under – specifically to the Sydney suburb of Lane Cove, home to Story Café. Story Café opened in...

Spudos by Paul Belford Ltd

We live in chaotic and excessive times. Brands and politicians alike demand attention, clamouring for consideration and creating – quite frankly, for me at least – an unwelcome cacophony of competing voices and issues. All too often, the lines between competing interest are blurred, and even absurd. I crave clarity and simplicity, particularly when it comes to basic consumables. What’s...

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OSESP by Polar

When São Paulo-based studio Polar was tasked with rebranding one of Brazil’s most important cultural institutions – the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo Symphony Orchestra), better known as OSESP – its solution was an identity system that doesn’t just depict classical music but actively embody it. OSESP’s previous identity had served it well, with its 2003-2007...

Dark Arts Coffee by NOT Wieden+Kennedy

If a brand that fuses memes, hot takes, occultism, and coffee is going to succeed anywhere, it’s probably in east London. Dark Arts Coffee started out in 2014 in a Homerton railway arch, and managed to corner that distinct subgenre of goth/metal/biker-ish aesthetics which opts for craft ale over snakebite; Hackney over Camden; self-care over self-destruction. Where the old guard,...

Williams Cocktails by Offff

In the last five years, canned cocktails have become ubiquitous, with offerings from MOTH: (packaging by Pentagram) and Whitebox (cans created in-house) among the strongest designs competing on the shelves of off-licenses, delis and bottle shops. Convenience and a post-pandemic demand for ‘on-the-go’ experiences have helped drive this trend, with Mintel data demonstrating that sales of spirit-based ready-to-drink beverages increased...

Tameko by DutchScot

Founded by Dominika Leveau and Chim Sonne-Schmidt in 2021, textile brand Tameko feels thoroughly ‘Scandi’ in aesthetics and ethos – it’s all clean lines, a singularly restrained stance on beauty. It’s form following function. Tameko embodies that very contemporary take on the luxury sensibility that never shouts about its status. It doesn’t need to: luxe quietly but confidently oozes from...

Hello Klean by Two Times Elliott

Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder, but there’s no denying that objectively, its branding and identity design has undergone some huge changes over the past decade or so. Gone are the days of faux-luxurious designs that were all about swathes of abstract silk; women coiffured to within an inch of their life; a microscopic lens on...

Compound by DesignStudio

What does ‘healthcare’ look like today, especially when we’re increasingly talking about preventative treatment? For Parsley Health and GlycanAge, which promote functional medicine, it’s serene – all blush pink, forest green and rounded corners; for Modern Age, which focuses on longevity, it’s more clinical, with high-resolution botanical imagery and classical icons; Ezra, which offers full-body MRIs as cancer prevention, goes...

Yellowbird by Gander

Sauces, oils, seasonings and condiments are consistently thriving categories in direct-to-consumer packaged goods. These high-margin, shelf-stable products can be easily differentiated with unique flavours and ingredients, and have high branding potential that can quickly adapt to trends. Right now, hot sauce its having its moment, with celebrities from Ed Sheeran to Brooklyn Beckham jumping on the band wagon, following trailblazers...