Rebranding Alaskan kelp based foods with scalable packaging

Barnacle Foods

Rebranding Alaskan kelp based foods with scalable packaging

Rebranding, illustration, packaging and web development for the sustainably-driven Barnacle Foods, bringing locally harvested ingredients to Alaska and beyond.

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Year

2021

Location

Alaska

United States

Salsa jars lined up with brightly colored labels
Barnacle Foods Logo with blue background
five colorful jars of food seasonings stacked on each other
Hello brandmark

A bunch of barnacles

Barnacle Foods strives to keep the ecosystems they rely on for ingredients as healthy as they found them. Ensuring that these resources continue to flourish for future generations to enjoy. The Commence designers created a new logo that gives Barnacle Foods an organically recognizeable mark and scalable design system that reflects their company culture (and namesake).


Before and after comparison
Bullwhip hot sauce with grilled cheese
Barnacle BBQ Sauce
Barnacle logo with wave asset

Bold packaging for unique foods

The Commence designers collaborated closely on the project with founder Lia and operator Rosa to bring forth a unified family of packaging that shows their quirky personalities and culinary creative products.

Rhubarb Jam
Spruce Tip Jelly
Popcorn Blend
Kelp Pinch Packaging
How it began

With Bullwhip hot sauce

Barnacle Foods initially came to Commence back in 2019 to design a single label for their Bullwhip Hot Sauce. The brief was to feature a salty seaman and the Bullwhip Kelp ingredients. In addition to that, Commence pitched an illustration of a salty female character, fitting for the primarily women-lead company. The new hot sauce label and female character was a hit, and Barnacle wanted to build off this momentum!


Illustrated labels

Bullwhip women and seals too

The Commence designers created custom labels for all 16 core products; they created a flexible yet consistent design system. Each label features unique illustrations of original characters, Alaskan landscapes, and signature ingredients. The artwork illustrated around the bottles and jars builds on the brand’s narrative and encourages customers to pick up and turn them to discover more around the bend.


Bull Whip Label Front
Bull Whip Label Right
Bull Whip Label Left
Bull Whip Label Back
Kelp Salsa Label Front
Kelp Salsa Label Right
Kelp Salsa Label Left
Kelp Salsa Label Back
Optimizing the shopping experience

Shopify customization

Commence designers and developers worked alongside each other to build an ecommerce website that showcases the new brand identity, captures more search results, makes subscription savings clear and put the product narrative at the forefront. Barnacle Foods now has in-depth landing pages about Kelp farming, their brand story and provides a faster shopping experience for their customers.


Barnacle Foods Rhubarb Jam Rotating, Web

“The new brand identity is highly recognizeable and sets Barnacle Foods up to scale with sustainability, exploration, and environmental consciousness at the forefront.”

Barnacle Business Cards
Barnacle Box Packaging
Bull Whip Hot Sauce
Kelp Pickles
Everything Seasoning
Bull Whip Sauce Pour
Serrano Bull Whip Sauce Pour
BBQ Sauce Pour