Ferndale Farmstead Creamery
Role: Graphic Designer (Freelance)
Date: 2015–2024
Skills: Logo design, Brand design, Packaging design
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Introduction
In 2015, Ferndale Farmstead Creamery was a newly founded company looking to expand into the artisanal cheese market in the Pacific Northwest, primarily focusing on Italian style cheeses. I met the head cheesemaker through a mutual friend and knew this was a project I would want to be apart of from the ground up. After meeting with their team to better understand their products and differentiating factors, we got to work exploring logo designs that would resonate with their products and customers.
Problem
Ferndale Farmstead needed a bold, recognizable logo to gain familiarity with customers at local farmers markets, regional grocery stores, and future marketing opportunities. Their logo and packaging would need to be consistent across all of their products, as their company was quickly experimenting with new flavors and was excited to launch new products. The packaging was really important to get right in order to build rapport with customers and stand out against the competition at the cheese counter.
Solution
Creating a premium brand identity for Ferndale Farmstead helped to position them as a leader in artisan Italian style northwest cheeses. One way we did this was focusing on packaging and standing out from the typical color schemes found by national cheese brands.
Using natural greens and a rich dark black, the Ferndale Farmstead logo stands out against most of their competitor’s packaging and branding. Their logo has been minimally updated over time to match changing trends and offer more modular in different packaging placements.
Create dozens of unique packaging designs, each with their own specific requirements and printing specifications for food safety, ingredients, and awards. Keeping the look and feel of the brand consistent was really important so it would remain identifiable to customers across all types of packaging: slices/wedges, rounds, buckets, stickers, wraps, and wholesale cases.
Nearly a decade later, Ferndale Farmstead can be found from specialty retailers in the Pacific Northwest like: Wholefoods, P.C.C., New Seasons Market, Safeway, Albertsons, Fred Meyer, and QFC. Additionally, Ferndale Farmstead provides products to over a dozen restaurants in the greater Seattle area, such as Pagliacci and Serious Pie.
