ICE BREAKER

Collaboration, brand identity, art direction, and UX/UI for H-E-B Supper, a brand extension for local Texas supermarket H-E-B that delivers meal kits to the homes of those wanting to enhance their cooking skills in the midst of busy schedules.

MY ROLE

Research + Visual Design + Brand Identity + Art Direction + Copywriting + Photography

field notes

Initial investigations and research (Coming Soon)

MY TEAM

Daniel Piedra | Team Lead + Research + Brand Development + Packaging + Photography 
Charlotte Calvin | Research + Copywriting + Brand Development + UX/UI Development
+ Ad Strategy & Design
Chelsea Ryan | Research + Copywriting + Brand Development + Ad Strategy & Design

Based in San Antonio, Texas, H-E-B is the leading local supermarket in the state. The company has over 350 stores throughout Texas and northern Mexico, and because of this, has rich cultural influences in its products and overall brand. Each store carries items that are influenced by the specific community it is located in, making H-E-B more of a neighbor rather than just another company.

When H-E-B purchased Favor, it opened the door for H-E-B to provide more services to their community. Working to stay within the company's strong brand, we developed a new meal kit delivery service that would bring the convenience and freshness of H-E-B straight into your kitchen. A main challenge of this project was to study existing H-E-B brand elements and draw inspiration from them for our own work, while also drawing lines for what was out of bounds for our brand. Our goal was to create a brand extension with a fresh look and feel, while staying true to H-E-B's existing graphic standards.

NOTE ON IDENTITY

A good neighbor is a valuable thing. We wanted Supper to be an extra friendly and caring extension of H-E-B's brand. As a result, we targeted users through warmhearted language with fun and helpful applications. 

Though everyone on the team had a hand in all parts of the project, Chelsea Ryan and myself were responsible for brand identity and language. "Supper" coined in collaboration with Charlotte Calvin.

NOTE ON NAME & BRANDMARK

We wanted a name that conveyed the warmth and familiarity of sharing meals with family and friends. Supper is a light and ambiguous term that doesn't restrict the service to providing only certain types of meals.

Regarding the brandmark, the H-E-B logo was not crafted by our team. After studying various packaging labels on H-E-B name brand products, we determined it was appropriate to include the company's original logo in our lockup.

NOTE ON the service structure

Many of our competitors offer an overwhelming amount of options for their meal kits. We implemented a simple, non-subscription based system that makes Supper much more straightforward. There are two meal size options (Classic and Family), and four meal categories (Balanced, Light N' Healthy, Hearty, and Vegetarian). Within each category, there are four to five recipes offered per week, with each category featuring kits that are gluten-free, vegan, etc. 

NOTE ON ICONS

The icon system was inspired by set dinner plates, stamp seals, and other icons already in use by H-E-B. They are kept as simple as possible in order to be usable for web and mobile application.

Iconography developed by Charlotte Calvin.

NOTE ON MOBILE ORDERING 

H-E-B's current ordering site for Curbside and Home Delivery already work well for mobile without the need for an app. We opted to give Supper the same treatment. Users simply log in to their existing H-E-B account and order meal kits on their mobile device or tablet. Our main focus was ensuring that users were given a quick and convenient experience that aids in saving time during busy schedules.

User flow and design developed by Charlotte Calvin. Assistance and user testing by Daniel Piedra, Chelsea Ryan, and myself.

NOTE ON packaging and advertising

For the kit packaging, we were inspired by the functionality of  bento boxes, and designed the meal kits to have removable interior dividers to organize the ingredients. This would also reduce the cost for H-E-B, since having interchangeable dividers negates the need for various interior designs and layouts.

Advertising is primarily done online through social media and H-E-B's website, which allowed us to take advantage of the company's strong web presence and reach a broader audience.

Packaging developed by Daniel Piedra. Social media developed my me.

NOTE ON KIT EXTRAS

In classic H-E-B fashion of always giving a little bit more, Supper's meal kits come with extra goodies inside, including promo coupons and cooking tips. As an extra incentive for people to try the kits, first time users receive what we call A Little Something. These Somethings are an extra H-E-B name brand item that pairs well with the chosen recipe, whether it's a spice, dipping sauce, or small dessert. 

Promo coupon, tips and tricks insert, and recipe card developed by Chelsea Ryan. Additional assistance and copywriting by me. 

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