Salys Herbs of Portugal

Volta Studio

Portugal

Design: VOLTA Brand Shaping Studio
Project Type: Produced
Client: Salys Herbs of Portugal
Photography: Fino Creative and Ricardo Soares
Location: Porto, Portugal
Packaging Contents: Aromatic Herbs
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass, Aluminium
Printing Process: Offset printing

Salys is a Portuguese brand that produces a mixture of salicornia and aromatic herbs to season food as an alternative to sea salt. Salicornia is a halophyte plant that grows near the sea, in salt marshes, beaches or mangroves: it incorporates the salt inside, obtaining a natural and characteristic salty flavour. By mixing it with aromatic herbs such as peppermint, lemon thyme, rosemary, savory, basil or prince herb, Salys obtains a seasoning blend with a slightly salty taste that is a very healthy alternative to sea salt.

VOLTA was invited to design Salys’ visual identity and packaging: the brand wanted a clean but punchy look & feel, with a focus on contemporary typography and good legibility. They also asked us for a brand signature and a (visual) “taste” of Portugal included in the identity.

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We opted for a sharp stencil font on the brand logo: a typeface permeated by “space”, just like salicornia is permeated by salty water. A grotesk and a monospaced font were added to give contrast to the visual identity and product labels. Then we blended the portuguese coat of arms with aromatic herbs leaves, creating a new one that adds history and heritage to a contemporary portuguese brand.

Afterwards, we added colour. This is a product to season the most colour diverse of elements: food. With 4 different types of seasonings, we took inspiration from the food colours themselves: red for carne (meat), blue for peixe (fish), bright green for saladas (salads) and orange for massas (pastas). And finally we created the signature, that reads “Saudavelmente salgadas“ (Healthily salted), clearly stating the brand’s promise.

The result is a simple, clean and distinctive brand, that uses the most basic of graphic principles to show the quality, innovation and freshness of its products.