The Food & Beverage industry is a very fast-paced sector, where patrons are often looking for new and differentiated concepts, specifically amongst the Millennials. They are always on the lookout for the next new thing and are in constant search of an experience that leaves a lasting impression.

Keeping this in mind, FRSHst was created to bring our consumers a source of delightful enrichment.

After having prepared an in-depth market analysis of the QSR industry, a look at competitors, and a kick-off session with the Del Monte team, we discovered that providing the target audience with fresh yet convenient food on the go was the ultimate route.

Our key challenge for this project was to create a unique and differentiated name that is ownable, as well as an identity for the QSR restaurant, reflecting the following brand positioning. Our strategy was to define the key target audience, who were the working-class Millennials, and then draw insights from their wants and needs.

We concluded that we are dealing with consumers who are very conscious about their food and choosing healthy options. In order for us to engage with them, we had to speak their language. Their conversation came in the form of a language that kept up with their fast-paced lifestyle.

Numbers would replace words, and words would omit letters. So, we adapted the language of “generation-text” or GNR8N TXT.

Being a Fresh Del Monte Produce brand, it was necessary to associate FRSHst with the parent brand. Keeping this in mind, there was a necessity of some association with the parent brand where distinctive elements were borrowed.

The brand name drew inspiration from the concept of a “street”, where we came up with the idea of FRSHst – a street name, pronounced FRESH STREET. With this idea in mind, choosing an urban and modern style of street signage was our starting point.

We looked at a typeface that would best fit the other design elements as well as resonate with the mindset of Millennials. We were confident that our font needed to be sans-serif; as street signs and cellphone message chats are all designed using that typeface. However, choosing a font was not enough; we needed to ensure that this typeface was ownable and differentiated.

We chose the font ‘UNICA ONE’, which is a condensed unicase sans-serif style. This typeface gives a good experience for composing headlines and short texts, where readability and simplicity are some of the virtues. We made the typography ownable by changing the way the letter “S” looked and added a leaf in the shape of a sprout that was inspired by Del Monte as a graphic element.

The color palette of the brand was inspired by the fresh ingredients and produce that we use in food. Each color was carefully inspired by fresh food and ingredients where all the colors work together in harmony.

We created icons using the idea of the single sprout shape that is used within the logo. Each icon represents a zone or area within the retail space. The horizontal baseline, under the icons, is derived from the line under the super-scripted “ST” in the logo. The retail zones were one of the few defined areas that were part of the brief. Upon Brand Lounge’s recommendation, the names of the areas/zones were changed to fit the brand strategy.

The pattern follows the same rules of construction as the icons, where we use the leaf sprout as the guiding inspiration for brand identity.

Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority was a free zone and an industrial licensing & promotion agency that was set up to attract investments into Ras Al Khaimah.

These two entities were considered under the foreign direct investment category of Ras Al Khaimah. Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zones (RAKEZ) are one of the largest Free Zones in the UAE, enabling economic growth through a progressive culture of excellence, cost-effective solutions and solid partnership with small, medium and large organizations throughout various industries and sectors.

RAKEZ colors reflect a modern look and feel that is considered as daring for a corporate and governmental institution.

The RAKEZ aqua green has become an ownable and differentiated element in the identity and is being well regarded and recognized in all of the brand’s traditional and digital communications.

In our strategic implications and recommendations, we communicated to the top management of RAKFTZ the importance of collaborating with RAKIA - because together they will create a stronger proposition for investors looking to invest in RAK. They will also provide a bigger platform and more agility to compete in the GCC region as well as globally. The new brand that we were working on fits a new proposition, where these two old entities can strive to serve the interest of investors and Ras Al Khaimah rulers vision.

We wanted to create a brand with a logo concept that was based on strategy, differentiated and reflects union and had a rich and modern visual experience.

The new concept was built and conceptualized around union and stability: depicting Jabel Al Jais, - an iconic and the highest mountain in UAE, as well as the sea - resorts and beach fronts, which RAK is well known for as well.

The typography was created and customized to make it ownable and modern using a sans serif font with visual synergy between Arabic and English. The identity elements of the brand were also conceptualized from the topography of RAK.

With this fresh identity, new modern colors and differentiated logo the brand can now appeal to a wider audience with a progressive idea.

While designing the logo and identity we experimented with a lot of different shapes and sketches to come up with an iconic symbol that can carry the brand globally while being the pride of the region.

Evvoli is for the new generation of free and smart buyers who are seeking a brand that reflects their own individuality and lifestyle.

It’s a mix of a human-centric technology and a modern design approach that inspires people to evolve for life.

MASA trading, our client in this exercise, has two successful brands – Star X (Tv’s and receivers) and General max (AC’s), playing in the low-end segment and targeting regional distributors. The owned brands are facing a lot of pressure from copycats and other Chinese players.

The management decided to be progressive with their thinking by creating a new brand that plays in a different segment and move the business to the future with better designs, better technology and modern branding.

After in-depth research to understand drivers of the industry, the future trends shaping technology and psychographic segmentation of buyers that deep dived into their interests, behavior and buying journey, Evvoli was born with a unique and invented name that merges the idea of evolution and life.

The brand concept is about transformation and movement, it’s a mix of art and design thinking.

It started with how everything in this world - earth, nature, humans and technology are in a constant state of evolution. We are all inspired by the movement that represents the evolution in our creative approach, where we see movement in sound, in vision, in art, in life and where every design starts with a movement.

The new emblem is a depiction of the first two letters of Evvoli – E&V. They are in a spiral shape that gives you an impression of a continuous movement – with no stops and no ending.

The typography was created and constructed to show our thinking as technology pioneers.

The colors we used to dress the new shape are carved from colors of nature - from the vibrancies of our world, from the Italian street buildings, from the shades of sunsets, from wall graffiti.

The brand Evvoli was born to send a message that this is a brand for humans who are always in action and are always in a state of movement.