Gusto!

Design Agency: Bulldog Drummond
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Packaging Content: Food
Location: San Diego, USA

If there’s one ubiquitous trend in the food space, it’s that convenience is king. People are eating in their cars, at their desks and pretty much anywhere except their kitchen tables. So it’s no surprise that convenience store sales are on the rise—and brands are upping their game when offering customers new and better snacking options. Enter Gusto! by Cucina Grande—an artisan style, fresh baked, hand-held pizza. Having worked with their parent company, Aryzta, we helped establish the brand, design the packaging and develop messaging to help the product stand out on-shelf.

Our first step in the process was to develop a name for the product. Gusto!, meaning “taste” in Italian, plays off the idea that taste is truly key when making the perfect snack. Next up was developing the logo. A Vespa-inspired typeface in all lowercase evokes a sense of playfulness and modernity while still paying homage to the Cucina Grande brand. The packaging pairs hand-drawn ingredients with a casual brushstroke-style font, and the vibrant orange leaps off the kraft packaging calling attention to the messaging to capture consumers’ attention. Aligning with the packaging, we designed a line of POS materials that tells the Gusto story throughout the retail environment.

The product launched late last year and sales have been incredibly successful. So next time you find yourself browsing the convenience store while filling up your car, remember that you don’t have to compromise taste—or design—for convenience.