Gud Fud aims to hook consumers with new identity by SuperIdea

Barcelona-based branding agency SuperIdea has designed the visual and verbal identity, packaging and website for fish-based ready meal brand Gud Fud, with a fishhook wordmark to reference its key ingredients.

While ready-made meals are usually cooked in large batches and then packaged, Gud Fud cooks each portion individually, using technology that seeks to “eliminate virtually all bacteria from the food”, says SuperIdea partner and brand strategist Ramon Marc Bataller Garrigó.

He adds that this helps retain the ingredients’ “natural vitamins” and flavour, and that the packaging was designed to whistle in the microwave when the food is finished cooking.

Gud Fud’s parent company initially reached out to SuperIdea to do some copywriting for its website, but the agency convinced them that a redesign of its brand assets and a new strategy would help it stand out among competitors, according to Bataller Garrigó.

SuperIdea founder and art director Cesc Mayor put “enormous efforts into choosing the right typeface”, says Bataller Garrigó, as he wanted typography similar to that of “a fishing boat or a tavern sign”, and that also had “a solemn look”, he says. A modified version of Alverata Light – a typeface designed by Gerard Unger from TypeTogether and inspired by the shapes of 11^th and 12^th Century Romanesque capitals – was chosen for the wordmark.

Incorporating a fishing hook into the U letterform is a reference to how hook and line fishing is “a more responsible way of obtaining sea products than trawling”, says Bataller Garrigó. The hook icon is also used in isolation across the brand as an identifying graphic symbol.

Bataller Garrigó describes the most challenging part of the design process as giving “coherence and consistency to the visual identity”, as much work goes into “defining the brand values and the storytelling behind it”.

He adds: “I think one of our strongest points is that we are very accurate in designing everything in a really branded way. When you stick to the values, the result is a powerful, trustworthy and long-lasting brand.”

Although SuperIdea originally presented a “more sunny, joyful” colour palette, Bataller Garrigó says that the company’s board members favoured a palette inspired by the sea, as it felt that this would make Gud Fud “more futuristic and unique in its market category”. The chosen hues are “intense, elegant and intrepid”, he says, as they encourage consumers to view the sea as “an adventure” instead of “a recreational space”.

As Gud Fud’s products are all made with fish and seafood, SuperIdea devised a tagline that focused on this: Flash Fish.

Flash Fish is ultimately a description of the products’ qualities: “convenient, quick, nutritious, healthy, balanced and responsible”, says Bataller Garrigó.