---

Duration

Sep 2022 - Dec 2022

Designer, Brand Strategist, Creative Director

Project Background

I created a packaging/branding system that explores the complex connection that young generations of Asians Americans have with their culinary heritage and also help local restaurants and eateries revitalize post-pandemic. My solution is Zing!, an NYC-based sauce brand that takes limited-edition sauce recipes from local restaurants and delivers them to grocery store shelves to recreate these cultural recipes in our own homes, all while exploring the tastes of New York restaurants. 

Brainstorm and Explorations

I explored logo designs and color combinations to find s bold and striking brand voice that reflected the sweet, tangy, fragrant, and everything-in-between tastes of sauces from Asian culture, keeping flavors of tamarind, peppercorns, and basil in mind while curating a brand that could be applied on a variety of phsyical and digital applications. One of the initial sketch includes a sauce used in Latin cultures before narrowing the project scope to only Asian sauces.

Brand Identity

ZING! aims to evoke energy and enthusiasm for cultural cuisine in youth. ZING! wants simplicity to pack a punch. Simple, bright and type-heavy, the visual system is bold, connected, and adaptable. Using funky concentric shapes, each sauce is assigned its own shape to represent its taste and unique identity.

Brand Application

I applied the ZING brand to a poster series and a packaging design. Made with recycled cardboard, package labels can be easily detached so the bottle and label can be composted and/or recycled. Another way we maximize our design is using the back of our labels to serve as sample recipes. This gives an authentic hands-on experience for the audience and gives promotional space for the restaurant the sauce features. With one package design, audiences are exposed to geographical connections to cultures as well as online exposure to a greater community of people making food.