Featured image for Terra Verde Honey is Proof that Low-Cost Productions Can Still Blow You Away

Terra Verde Honey is Proof that Low-Cost Productions Can Still Blow You Away

by Theresa Christine Johnson on 04/05/2017 | 4 Minute Read

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Terra Verde is sweet, sustainable honey you won’t be able to resist. With bright packaging and simple icons, it makes a bold and confident statement to stand out among a plethora of other options. We spoke with Lauro Machado at Estúdio Insólito to learn more about the story behind Terra Verde Honey’s design, managing an ultra-low cost production, and the impact the new look has had on the honey’s sales.

What was one of the biggest goals you set out to achieve with Terra Verde packaging and how did you accomplish it?

Estúdio Insólito: At the beginning of the project we outlined four main goals.

  • Highlight the quality of the product through the design.
  • Create a distinctive visual language for the sustainable market.
  • Connect the brand with the public interested in local producers.
  • Achieve all this with a low cost of production.

For the first challenge, our proposal was to create a package that despite having a minimalist general appearance, has layers of elements that give meaning and also pass the idea of care with details. And, as we create this proprietary contemporary and friendly aesthetic, we speak directly to the public that usually attends local product fairs in Rio de Janeiro.

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You use a lot of elements that are often associated with honey—the color yellow, hexagons, a bee icon. How did you make this design different and fresh?

Estúdio Insólito: I think it's the right mix of all those ingredients. We have this bright yellow background which serves as the visual bait and then all the other cool details like the label, the textures and the icons. The yellow background also makes a beautiful contrast with all the shades of honey.

How did you manage the low-cost production for Terra Verde while still creating something unique?

Estúdio Insólito: The cost of production was one of the main factors of the project, because Terra Verde is a small cooperative of beekeepers, so they did not have a big budget for production. The decision to use just 2 colors was to cheapen the print process of the packaging. Then we use this restriction as language and we take advantage of it by exploring the contrast between yellow and black and honey itself.

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What was the most challenging part of this project?

Estúdio Insólito: As the client had a clear view on how design could positively impact product perception, the visual part was not the biggest challenge, as we had a lot of freedom to design the packaging. So in this case, I think the biggest challenge was to work with a very (really very) small budget and still seek solutions to the objectives and the quality that we would like to achieve. We had to research and study the printing process enough to arrive in the ideal format for each element. As an example, the labels and seals should all be on the same sheet, but each had a different amount to be printed. It was like putting together a puzzle.

If you could pick one aspect of the finished design that you like the most or feel especially proud of, what would it be and why?

Estúdio Insólito: The tasting kit was something we were very proud to create. It was our idea to take advantage of the very small pots they had but did not know how to sell. The result is that it is currently one of the most successful products in the fairs and was a milestone for the growth of the cooperative.

Share one lesson that you learned while developing the finished product.

Estúdio Insólito: In fact, it's a lesson we already knew, but it was reaffirmed at the end of the process: design matters. People loved the packaging and they identified with the product, which is really great, by the way and that had a great impact on the business and the perception of the brand. Previously, they were "the dudes who sell nice honey" and are now a brand in the midst of local producers and have reached another level of sales with orders even for business events.

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