Initial situation
Fall 2017, the prestigious university USAMV Cluj was producing food locally, inside their pilot production stations. They were selling the products mainly to the students in campus, but, due to the high quality and excellent price many customers were coming from outside campus to buy. Initially the products were mostly dairy products, with more segments soon to follow.
A brand was needed to represent and communicate the values behind the project and the products.
Fall 2017, the prestigious university USAMV Cluj was producing food locally, inside their pilot production stations. They were selling the products mainly to the students in campus, but, due to the high quality and excellent price many customers were coming from outside campus to buy. Initially the products were mostly dairy products, with more segments soon to follow.
A brand was needed to represent and communicate the values behind the project and the products.
Approach & solution
Worldwide, there are very few universities which issue food brands locally produced in a joint effort of students & professors, so it was clear from the start that the academic origins of the brand will be a very strong asset, and also that the USAMV brand reputation will extend over the new brand.
I wanted to find a Latin name, one that would be instantly understood as academically related, one that would appeal to different age groups, and would go well internationally. We also needed a free domain name. Gourmeticus Academicum finally won, as brand name.
The visual solution was using a handwritten name, and a square graduation cap symbol for the logo, and a trademark rhomboidal pattern with custom illustration on bold color backgrounds as the visual universe for the brand's packaging.
Worldwide, there are very few universities which issue food brands locally produced in a joint effort of students & professors, so it was clear from the start that the academic origins of the brand will be a very strong asset, and also that the USAMV brand reputation will extend over the new brand.
I wanted to find a Latin name, one that would be instantly understood as academically related, one that would appeal to different age groups, and would go well internationally. We also needed a free domain name. Gourmeticus Academicum finally won, as brand name.
The visual solution was using a handwritten name, and a square graduation cap symbol for the logo, and a trademark rhomboidal pattern with custom illustration on bold color backgrounds as the visual universe for the brand's packaging.
The architecture of the brand is built in such a way that it makes adding new branches easy, a must for such a dynamic situation, and extensions as Gourmeticus Shop and Gourmeticus Cafe were easy to add.
A set of custom illustrations was drawn for each segment of products, adding new segments is easy to do and the brand architecture is kept clean and playful.
Each new segment of products has a vibrant color assigned, the identity of the brand will stand out as colorful, fresh, authentic and academic.
