Case Study • Branding & Package Design

Port Dover Candies is a small local farmers market business that is family-owned and operated. The company produces high-quality organic and naturally sweetened candy and is looking for a complete brand identity and logo, as well as environmentally friendly packaging. Their Mango Gummies product is popular at the Saturday morning Port Dover Farmers Market. With thoughts of potentially expanding their flavour line, the owners know that the brand identity needs to be successful across an array of media and packages. They have a loyal local community base, and sales are rapidly growing thanks to tourism and local businesses starting to sell their product in their stores.

The Challenge

The company was born of a love of candy. As children, sister duo Erin and Laura frequented the local sweets shop in Port Dover with their grandparents every weekend. However, once young adults, the sisters realized there was a noticeable gap in the marketplace for sustainable, local, and healthier candy options.

Their target market is predominantly female, aged 22 to 35 years old, who favour shopping local and purchasing sustainable product options. Their customers often live in surrounding cities, such as Toronto and Hamilton, Ont. This group is focused on healthy living and wellness and is eco-conscious in their purchasing decisions.

Logo and Brand Identity

Upon launching Port Dover Candies, the sisters wanted the brand to be reflective of the community they know and love. They asked that a lighthouse be incorporated into the logo and described the brand they envisioned as being: bouncy, creative, down-to-earth, family-focused, natural, and earth-focused. They also asked that the brand be flexible in not only accommodating their Mango Gummies product, but also additional flavours depending on future sales performance.

Through research, conceptual thinking, and strategy, I proposed a logo and brand identity that exceeds the requirements of the brief. I illustrated the likeness of the real-life Port Dover lighthouse and featured it prominently in the logo. The addition of waves and rounded edges throughout the mark lends itself to visually representing the adjectives natural and bouncy. The overall rounded/lozenge shape of the logo conveys a friendly familiarity, not entirely unique to the candy industry, but always effective at evoking a family-friendly mission behind a brand.

I used the typefaces Nautilus Pompilius and Hurme Geometric Sans 4 Semibold in the logo with some customization. The script typeface connects with the target audience, based on research of what is popular and featured in related product packaging and social media interests. The hand-drawn nature hints at the brand being down-to-earth yet creative at the same time. This is grounded by the use of the sans serif, which adds a layer of sophistication and classic elegance, qualities also deemed attractive to the target market.

I established the colour palette after much research on favourite brands and products of women aged 22 to 35 years old, who are not afraid of bold shades. The vibrant pink of the primary colour palette reflects the bouncy and creative aspects of the brand, while the variety of blues calms the palette and reflects the natural and earth-focused aspects of the brand. The logo design shown here is also accommodating of various printing situations. When printing on dark surfaces, the full colour logo may be used, depending on the background situation. The reverse logo may be used on a dark, non-busy surface or saturated colour.

My research noted that recently companies are using more than one logo. This trend is known as variable logo design, which recommends having different logo variations depending on where the logo is located. Along the lines of this trend and the ability to accommodate future products, the sky portion of the logo could change colour as the company sees fit and it adds new flavours to the product line. On this note, the secondary colour palette presented here includes various shades of orange and green to represent the Mango Gummies. However, the light orange of the Mango Gummies colour palette could be swapped out to represent new candy offerings; e.g., pale purple could represent grape flavour, or a soft green could coincide with lime or apple. The secondary colour palette could be quite large to accommodate the expanding product line and the trends in variable logo design.

Package Design

Port Dover Candies requested a few packaging design concepts for its Mango Gummies product. It was important to the owners that the packaging be compostable, a key factor differentiating them from all their competitors. They selected an eco-conscious package featuring a clear window. They also requested creative custom-shaped windows on the front of the package to show off the luxurious texture and flavour of the product. The package size is 6" x 9.5" and the package type is compostable matte with a clear window, offered by Rootree Inc.

Since the company opted for a compostable type of packaging offered by Rootree Inc., the Rootree brand-appropriate compostable logo needed to be included on the front of the package. Port Dover Candies asked that the words "Naturally sweetened" and "Organic" appear in close proximity to the name of the product. They also wanted to communicate on the front of the bag that they are a family-owned and operated company located in Ontario. Required on the back of the package was a nutrition facts table, the company address, and a body of copy outlining their company story and history.

I proposed three design concepts, but the winning package to feature the first Port Dover Candies product used colourful packaging, simple mango illustrations in an attractive pattern, and a geometric clear window to connect with the target market. The winning design also used clear messaging through text size, colour and hierarchy in friendly typefaces and symmetrical copy alignments to further connect to the main audience based on their current visual interests. That said, who wouldn’t want to pick up this delightful package of sweet treats when spotted in store or at the farmers market?

Knowledge: Brand Identity, Logo Design, Package Design, Pre-Press file setup, Illustration, Style Guide

Programs: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign

Details: Concept work for a fictitious company. Dieline and compostable logo provided by Rootree Inc.