Filipe Dams owes everything he knows about fishing and smoking salmon to his grandfather, Eberhardt “Hardy” Dams. As a tribute to his grandfather’s life and legacy, Filipe started a salmon filet brand in Portugal named Hardy Smoked Masterpieces. The brand identity needed to inspire and communicate premium quality, and for this, Filipe entrusted the multi-award-winning independent communications studio, Pacifica.
Pacifica created a brand identity for Hardy’s website, stationery, and packaging. “Hardy is a brand with enormous potential” says Pacifica, “but still small and growing.” Part of their responsibility included growing the brand. Thankfully, the owners of Hardy formed a close relationship with the people at Pacifica.
“The client believed in our vision from the beginning,” said Pacifica, “and this confidence gained momentum as we moved on.” Obviously, the confidence was well-deserved. Pacifica’s creative work on Hardy’s brand and brand identity is nothing short of remarkable.
The brand identity of Hardy Smoked Masterpieces can be broken down into two main aspects. Firstly, the typography is rigid and sharp like a cutting knife. It evokes a strong, bold Germanic aesthetic. Secondly, the symbol “reproduces the Hardy process,” as Pacifico says. The sleek, strong icon resembles a salmon filet with a drawstring tie.
It is the unique combination of these two elements that makes Hardy’s branding such a success. The lettering feels timeless. The symbol feels modern. Because of this, the branding succeeds at creating an honest premium quality look. Immediately, you get the feeling that this company is principled, trustworthy, well-respected, and worth every penny.
Their vision was pretty clear from the beginning. Consequently, Pacifica describes their design draft process as one of “depuration” leading to the final result.
A balance between craftsmanship and brand excellence was vital in defining the chromatic color palette. For this reason, Pacifica chose a salmon orange and deep ocean blue to represent Hardy Smoked Masterpieces. As Pacifica puts it, the colors “exist in balance and in alternation.”
This color palette stays true to the “natural” aesthetic represented in the packaging. Conversely, this color palette still manages to feel vibrant. The colors create a strong and superior aesthetic, thus adding to the overall feeling of premium quality.
All in all, the colors work hand in hand with the packaging to create a truly distinctive brand identity.
Packaging is a natural extension of any good brand. Therefore, the packaging needed to be as “natural and appealing” as the salmon. Pacifica and Hardy decided upon raw micro-corrugated cardboard for the packaging. The printing and finishing were done with careful detail using a UV color printing process.
Of course, the packaging finds a clever way to further extend Hardy’s brand identity. The box represents the salmon, while the handle recreates the loop in the logo. This same concept of incorporating the logos’ loop is used for labels and tags, as well.
The large salmon boxes feature the iconic logo in full, while the half-salmon boxes feature a unique die-cut version of the symbol logo. As a result, potential purchasers can actually see the beautiful salmon filets held within.
The package branding includes multiple boxes, tags, labels, stationery, meat-wrapping paper, and more. All in all, the packaging gives Hardy’s Branding a “minimalist and assertive look,” as Pacifico states.
Let’s take a closer look at the brand identity designs and packaging created by Pacifica for Hardy Smoked Masterpieces:
Images courtesy of: Pacifica via Behance
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