Packaging Sprint:
Wild Fox Ferments
Instructor:
Details
4 Week Duration, Spring 2024
Tyler School of Art & Architecture
Methods
Logo Design & Branding
Packaging Layout & Composition
Information Design
A Hard Kombucha Brand from Scratch
Creating WildFox Ferments was my chance to build a standout hard kombucha brand with a unique story. From initial market research to final mockups, every step was about setting WildFox apart as a refreshing, sustainable choice in the ever-growing market of hard beverages.
Market Insights:
What’s Out There?
To begin, I dove into research on both up-and-coming and established hard kombucha brands, such as Flying Embers, Strange Beasts, and Bucha. This competitive analysis was essential in revealing current trends, popular flavor profiles, and design strategies that were making an impact. I explored these companies’ websites, packaging, and brand identities to better understand their visual messaging and target audiences. With these insights in hand, I assembled a mood board, pulling in visual elements and expanding on ideas that would set WildFox Ferments apart.
Defining a Purpose:
Brand Vision & Identity
I wanted WildFox to be more than just another kombucha brand; it needed to stand out visually and resonate with consumers who value a fresh and health-focused experience. Crafting a persona helped solidify the brand's core identity, ensuring every design choice—from color schemes to typography—aligned with the WildFox personality. Creating a persona didn’t just sharpen the brand’s identity, though, it created a target audience I could speak to directly, with visuals and messages that resonated with them on a personal level.
Designing with Intent: From Sketch to Logo
Once I had a foundation for WildFox's identity, I sketched logos until I found one that embodied the brand’s adventurous, bold spirit. I was able to add this sketch to Adobe Firefly, which eventually made the outline for the initial logo rendition. From there, I image traced it in Illustrator, turned it into a shape with newly edited, definitive features, and began making a color palette to match the products. The can layout evolved through countless trials, testing various color schemes, readability, and accessibility. Each fruit illustration was also made using FireFly from real photographs and refined in Illustrator to align with WildFox’s natural, organic feel.
Bringing Wild Fox to Life: Mockups & Renders
To truly make WildFox feel market-ready, I finalized each design detail down to the ingredient list, alcohol content, and nutrition facts. I used both Photoshop and Substance 3D Stager to create compelling mockups that felt like real advertisements, meticulously setting up backgrounds, lighting, and props. These mockups elevated the brand, making WildFox look as polished and ready for shelves as I envisioned from the start.
Created in Photoshop
Created in Adobe Substance 3D Stager
Final Deliverables:
A Product You Can See on the Shelves
The process of creating this brand was more than a design exercise—it was about telling a story, engaging an audience, and building a brand I would one day love to see on shelves. From ideation to final presentation, each step was rooted in research, creativity, and an attention to detail that ultimately brought the brand to life.
