Hotshot Hot Sauce

Project Narrative

In my Visual Communication Design II class, we were assigned to create a brand that included a logo, three differently shaped products, and a stationary system. This particular project was inspired by the current state of visually displeasing designs that permeate the hot sauce industry. As a designer, my personal challenge became tackling a juxtaposition between the spicy seriousness of the sauce with a sweet, spunky design. I re-envisioned hot sauce to be a vivid and tasteful experience both visually and physically. To achieve this, I created a handcrafted wordmark and an expressive pattern intertwined with a careful selection of bright colors. The energy of the branding is shown through the curves and contrasts of the strokes, portraying a flexible, carefree design. To distinguish the flavors, I categorized the sauces by color using an iconographic system. The icons reflect the flavor profiles, names, and personalities of each sauce. To show my skill at marketing the sauce, I mocked up an imaginative advertisement where Hotshot’s personality came to life. Following the advertisement, I created a stationary set that mirrors the curvatures of the arrow in the word mark to keep a dynamic feel while achieving a professional, business look.

My project most closely aligns with the Interdisciplinary award because it effectively combines multiple disciplines into one project. Product design is a discipline that I had not worked with until this project. The driving force behind my product design revolved around the cost for printing and packaging, leading my product to become highly cost efficient while yielding an effective design. My cost saving efforts led to additional funding possibilities in the form of a food truck and apron, which allow for future business expansion.

The discipline of graphic design is shown throughout the branding process, including typography and illustration. As mentioned above, my typography was uniquely crafted using the contrasts of thick and thin strokes to make a wordmark that had visual movement as well as energy. I had also constructed the pattern, using forms from the wordmark to imitate the energy of the sauce to implement in the brand. Combining those two aspects and my decisive color range, the result creates a graphic experience that is pleasing to consumers. My color palette, one of a kind typography style, and hand-illustrated patterning all work together to present a visually appealing and unifying branding.

Through interdisciplinary design, I was able to achieve the goal of providing the hot sauce industry with a brand that combined the spicy seriousness of the sauce with a sweet, spunky design which is both vivid and tasteful.

                                           

Project Details

Submission Category

Experiential Graphics- Large scale (environments or systems)

Date of Completion

December, 2022