88 Acres

Agency: ROOK/NYC
Creative Partner: Mark Christou
Managing Partner: Rebecca Thomas Christou
Lead Designer: Mark Christou
Photographer: Tony Pierre
Food Photographer: Nina Gallant
Location: United States
Project Type: Produced
Client: 88 Acres
Product Launch Location: United States
Packaging Contents: Seed + Oat Bars
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Metallized Film (bar wrapper)

Six years after launching 88 Acres, a seed-based, allergy-friendly snack company in 2015, Co-Founders and wife/husband duo, Nicole Ledoux and Rob Dalton, saw the opportunity to evolve and elevate their brand’s identity and packaging design to adapt to rapidly changing culture and consumer behavior. The team at 88 Acres tapped brand partner of 3.5 years, ROOK/NYC, to collaborate with them on the redesign.

The goal of the project was fourfold: drive taste appeal, set product expectations, educate and drive trial. To drive taste appeal and set product expectations, ROOK/NYC incorporated new, mouth-watering ingredient and product photography which helps the consumer to quickly understand what the product is and what it’s made of. The color palette was evolved to speak directly to category flavor cues, while the logo was placed in a seed-shaped holding icon – reinforcing that seeds are the foundational ingredients with which all of 88 Acres’ products are made. The language and product descriptors on the packaging were also simplified with a stronger, more playful brand voice that reflects familiar, tasty, home-cooked terminology.

Alongside changes made to the new packaging, there are key elements that remain from the brand’s previous design. 88 Acres chose to maintain both their existing logo and the leading color of each SKU in order to maintain brand and flavor recognition for their current, loyal consumer set.

“Through our long- term relationship, the brand has seen enormous growth, despite the economic challenges of 2020, and this redesign will be a big step in helping 88 Acres to grow beyond the natural channel into more of an iconic mainstay in the conventional snacking category.” – Mark Christou, Founder & Creative Partner, ROOK/NYC

The new packaging design hit shelves and 88acres.com this summer, with a rolling release based on current packaging inventory to minimize packaging waste. The brand expects to have the full portfolio updated in store by January 2022.

What’s Unique?
The packaging refresh the ROOK/NYC team designed drives taste appeal, sets product expectations, educates and drives trial.