Brand Strategy, Creative Direction + Design
allplants – Evolution
The crystallisation of brand, and flying the plane while you build it are hallmark start up experiences. After iterating for years, we inevitably got to the stage where we needed to dig deeper into the brand world and foundations for the allplants brand to future-proof it.
Scroll ↓
Brand strategy
Developing a Brand DNA, Category Key and brand blade, we were able to dive into the codes in our category, and produce a set of emerging and challenger codes to inform our creative approach.
In a category flooded with restriction, shouty vegans, and beige choices (hi supermarket frozen aisles), we needed to dial up what allplants has always done best – being bright, inclusive and energising. It was time to shed some of the vegan chat, and increase focus on the food experience.
Art Direction: Stephanie Johnstone |
Photography: Valentina Concordia
Design + TOV
When I joined allplants the brand guidelines were a couple of lines in a spreadsheet listing a font family, hex code and a few links to key brand assets. In a world where freezers are fusing, there’s no HR policy and no photography bank, you don’t exactly have the luxury of taking a few months out to rebrand.
We did a rough and ready internal brand edit in 2019, and then had the opportunity to revisit with Pearfisher in 2022. It was great to see many of the design, tone and brand values we identified in those earlier times come to life in Pearlfisher’s articulation of brand world.
Insert – Oct 2018
Roll fold DM – Jan 2021
Flyer – Oct 2022
Photography
When I joined we had two fresh grads (neither with a photography background), natural light, the wrong equipment and a mulit-use meeting room with no kitchen.
I supported the team to hone their skillsets, and strategically we refined the photography approach to something ownable which would build memory structures. It’s hard to believe the same team took the images below. It proves that the results, if you stick with people, and show them (not just tell them) that you believe in them, are next level.
Lifestyle photography – Oct 2018
Lifestyle photography – Nov 2019
Lifestyle photography – Oct 2022
Our photography romanticises the ‘now’ moment to elevate convenience to match our price point; visually punching into the food experience with bold, colourful, abundant representations of eating in our photography, videography and graphic approach.
Art Direction: Stephanie Johnstone
Photography: Valentina Concordia
Packaging
My first project at allplants as a freelancer was to update the packaging. The brand name was tiny, but the patterns beloved, and I identified the need for people to say “lets have an allplants tonight” which gave way to the second iteration of the packs.
Pack design – Oct 2018
Pack design – Nov 2018
Pack design – Oct 2022
This early vision of allplants as a cuisine choice came to life in an even more powerful way a couple of years later when we worked alongside Pearlfisher to produce the brand world and updated our packs again; using agency resource impactfully alongside the expertise and deep brand knowledge of the in-house team.
Shop
Needless to say in my four years at allplants the site underwent numerous changes. My team collaborated with the Product and Engineering team for big brand changes. Below you can see the evolution from the start to the end of my time.
Shop page – Oct 2018
Shop page – Oct 2022
Menu photography
Most notably to bring the brand to life on site and throughout email flows we reshot the full menu, bringing colour and flavour to the forefront. Hats off to Toni for plugging away in the studio for months to bring this to life.
Sample menu listing – Chana Bowl – Before
Sample menu listing – Chana Bowl – After
Social
I oversaw social incl. strategy for >75% of my time at allplants. We established content pillars for our owned and earned channels; developed social to site journeys; saw success with lead capture, giveaways and engaging community. The challenge was to increase quality, keep content native and ensure the inclusivity at the heart of our brand was first and foremost.
My biggest personal highlight was veganising Wagon Wheels for Nadiya Hussain, because wholesome content (see below).
Making Nadiya Wagon Wheels – Part one
Nadiya’s response stories