San Remo Food Importers has had its own private label for 25+ years and was looking to revamp their multiple product lines, bringing their brand into a new era. The logo design for the rebrand had already been underway prior to me being involved in the project, so the scope of my challenge was to bring something exciting and fresh to the existing products, while balancing the familiarity and recognizability the consumer had become accustomed to purchasing over the years. I started by mapping out the array of products (over 60) and separating each into their respective categories, Italian Tomatoes, Balsamic Vinegar, Olives, Artichokes, Roasted peppers, Olive Oil, Pesto, Sea Salts etc. The client made it clear from the onset that there must be a clear distinction between items in order to avoid mix up on the shelves, while still maintaining continuity and brand identity throughout.  This was achieved by developing a colour palette, using the main colours  blue, green, red and purple, while using shades of those colours for items that needed a slight variation in colour for distinction in only a few cases. The client requested a texture or pattern to mix with the colours to give the items a certain value. Using a world map with old trade routes was an ode to the company's brand identity since it launched in the late 80s which was in the form of an illustration. This in combination with the clean sans serif font Gotham, helps transition the brand into something slightly more modern while still preserving its nostalgia. 
The Italian Tomatoes, which fall under the San Remo Azzurri line, were one of the first items carried by the company and were a strong reference point for the rest of the project. The blue colour (Azzurri) was selected due to its common association with Italy, the country of origin. The logo, which is an old trading ship, is strategically positioned "travelling the waters" from Europe to North America representing the importing foundations of San Remo. 
The San Remo Olives were a good example of utilizing the colour palette. The client requested a differentiation of colours for each of the olives to avoid confusion on the shelf for the consumer. The red was selected for the sliced ripe olives due to the familiarity of that specific olive being used on pizza. Whereas for the pitted green olives I decided to use purple, which is the complimentary colour of green, leaving the last two to follow in line with the primary colours in the colour palette. 
An interesting challenge arose when presented with the San Remo Balsamic Vinegar, which comes in two sizes with a narrow vertical die-line. I needed to find the balance between legibility and negative space as well as accommodate for all the essential information needed for the product. My solution in this case was selecting the colour black, not only for its elegance, but for a seamless look blending with the colour of the bottle. This allowed me to increase the size of my logo and product name, while maintaining the negative space balance. 
When it came to the vegetables in glass jars, I decided to not have an image of the product on the label for a few reasons.  The visibility of what the consumer is buying is clear due to the glass, and it also allows for more space to increase the size of the font and logo.
The opportunity to create artwork for the company fleet was an exciting endeavour. After dozens of potential designs ranging from artistic and risky to conservative and clean we decided to go with the following. For the side of the truck we  used San Remo's organic beans line up, allowing the only colours in the design to come from the products themselves, while leaving a healthy amount of clean negative space to draw the eye.  
A different approach was taken with the back of the truck as I wanted to capitalize on the shape, as the rectangle was almost a perfect match to the dimensions of a can of tomatoes. The thinking was as a passenger was stuck in traffic behind the truck, they would be looking at a giant can of San Remo Organic Tomatoes, stimulating their appetite. The key here was providing shock value as well as memorability while maintaining the balance of the design. 
Programs used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop
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