Boudin SF packaging (fictional)
The Boudin SF Plastic Free Food Packaging project is born from ArtCenter College of Design’s first 100% plastic free packaging course. Students were challenged to rebrand a fast or fast casual food brand, and redesign their packaging system to be fully sustainable, using no plastic or bioplastic. Students were also challenged to use new and old materials including biomaterials such as wood pulp, plant cellulose, food waste, grass, algae, and mushrooms that are sustainably sourced, and at the end of their lives, can be composted into bio-mass to regenerate depleted farming soils.
The original Boudin itself is a bakery and restaurant chain originally from San Francisco, California, known for its sourdough bread. It was established in 1849 by Isidore Boudin, son of a family of master bakers from Burgundy, France, by blending the sourdough prevalent among miners in the Gold Rush with French techniques and longevity. Today, it is famous for its ‘Bowl of Soup’, which is a sourdough boule with clam chowder inside of it. This rebranding and packaging design is recognizing sustainability as longevity and delivering Boudin SF’s same spirit but with a 21st century vibe.
The final outcomes include physical food packaging appearance models that indicate the size, dimension, and functionality for real paper pulp containers. Results also include reusable cotton carrier bags, environmental-friendly wrap papers, container tags, to-go menus, and business cards.
The brand identity is based on The Pyte Foundry’s Houdini. This unique slab typeface has a characteristic of being historic and contemporary at the same time. The basic slab serif skeleton would bring out the 19th century visual aspect while its extremely wide letter width carries the freshness. Its uppercase O is replaced by a loaf of bread, supporting the brand recognition.
The main branding typography is composed with Domaine Display and Domaine Text, and Founders Grotesk. In general, Domaine’s overall contemporary and curvaceous Latin details match the food category and its related feeling. Founders Grotesk not only visually matches with Domaine on the letterform proportion, but also shares the similarity on that curvaceous core. Both typefaces are from New Zealand-based Klim Type Foundry.
