National Coney Island is a delicious Detroit classic.
Like deep-dish pizza to Chicago, a Coney Island style hot dog is synonymous to Detroit. National Coney Island is a Michigan born-and-bred family business and has been serving comfort food to Detroit and its surrounding Metro areas since 1965. Working with Lovio George, I designed various concepts and styles for National Coney Island's retail food packaging along with campaign creative. A taste-testing (for research purposes) was thoroughly enjoyed as well.
classic brand with modern styling
Building upon National Coney Island's existing brand color palette and assets, I explored visuals that conveyed their history and personality for a modern, relevant audience. From graphic-badges touting their Michigan heritage to conversational messaging for their ready-to-go Big Swig drinks to a restyling of their mascot Mr. Pop, I designed a small library of brand assets that could be interchanged based on seasonal campaigns and weekly/quarterly promotions.
feel good food packaging
For National Coney Island's food packaging redesign, I implemented a unified design that conveyed instant brand association. From bold, red & gold color-imprinting to casual messaging, both chili and hot dog packaging communicated the same brand tone as the marketing and campaign creative.
A Detroit Coney Island style hot dog isn't legit unless it's got a white bun, a beef/pork blend hot dog topped with chili sauce, diced onions, and a zig-zag of mustard. Mindful of the sacredness of what makes a Coney Island style hot dog unique, I designed both packages to cross-reference one another. The chili and hot dog packages individually hinted at one another with visual cues but also worked as a standalone product.
In summary, I enjoyed exploring modern looks for such an iconic Detroit-staple as well as working with a gracious CD at Lovio George. However, the project has evolved beyond these initial design explorations I worked on.
Credits:
Agency: Lovio George
Creative Director: John George