Mariana Ponte

Category: Packaging Design

  • Yumi: A personal cooking branding

    Yumi: A personal cooking branding

    Yumi is a personal cooking brand by Megan Taylor. Through her popular YouTube channel, Megan has been teaching viewers how to make easy and healthy recipes right at home. She aims to show the world that eating healthy doesn’t have to be difficult and that it can be enjoyable and rewarding.

    My role was to develop a brand that would friendly and eye catching as well as reflect the energetic vibe that Megan transpires. This project deliverables included the primary logo, a short version / symbol, packaging design an a cookbook editorial design.

    Food Packaging Design by Mariana Ponte

    Summary:

    Yumi represents a blend of fun, function, and vibrancy, making healthy cooking feel accessible and exciting. As a personal project, it allowed me to experiment with a bold visual style and explore the creative freedom of crafting a brand from scratch. This project is a testament to how thoughtful branding and design can transform an idea into a relatable, memorable experience.

    1. Visual Identity

    The Yumi logo was designed as a speech bubble exclaiming “Yumi!”—like an enthusiastic cheer for delicious food. This speech bubble symbolises Megan’s friendly, conversational style as she shares easy, healthy recipes with her audience. The exclamation mark inside the bubble adds an extra layer of excitement, capturing the energy and passion that Megan brings to her cooking.

    To ensure versatility across different platforms, I also developed a simplified symbol: a bold exclamation mark inside the speech bubble. This version is instantly recognisable and perfect for social media icons, profile pictures, and other digital applications, keeping the brand consistent and memorable.

    The colour palette was inspired by the warmth and vibrancy Megan brings to her cooking. Bright yellows and oranges were chosen to convey energy, positivity, and a zest for healthy living—qualities that resonate with Megan’s mission and personality.

    2. Packaging Design

    For Yumi’s packaging design, I focused on simplicity, practicality, and an inviting aesthetic. The packaging was created with the brand’s core values in mind: easy, healthy, and enjoyable cooking. With bright, bold colours to ensure visibility on store shelves, the design is both functional and visually engaging.

    Each package includes clear instructions and nutritional information, making it user-friendly and aligned with Megan’s goal of promoting stress-free healthy eating. The packaging design also reflects Yumi’s fun and lively spirit, ensuring that it not only stands out but also appeals to health-conscious consumers seeking an approachable and vibrant brand.

  • Purity: Spa Branding

    Purity: Spa Branding

    Purity is a small local spa business that offers treatments such as massages, manicures/pedicures and facials. They’re expanding their business so they need a rebrand.

    They are looking for a luxurious expensive brand design that aligns with their goals and ethos. They need a logo design as well as collaterals such as business cards, bags and merchandise. Brief by: Brand Brief

    1. Visual Identity

    While designing Purity brand, I focused on their core values – wholeness, vitality, and completion – concepts symbolized by the circle – base shape of the logo.

    The concept for Purity was centered around the idea of relaxation, rejuvenation, and overall wellness. I represented this concept through a simplified shape of a person laying on a massage table, which is a symbol commonly associated with spa treatments and relaxation.

    The design of the logo is clean and minimalist, which adds to its elegance and luxury feel. The simple design allows the brand to easily incorporate the logo into various marketing materials, such as business cards, tote bags, and merchandise.

    The logo is easily recognizable and memorable, making it an effective representation of the Purity brand.

    The blue tones used in the palette add a sense of calm and stability, helping to create a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. Blue is often associated with calmness, serenity, and trust, making it an ideal color choice for a spa brand.

    The combination of neutral browns and calming blues creates a sophisticated and luxurious look that is well suited to the spa environment.

    2. Indoor signage

    The indoor signage created for Purity spa was designed with a luxurious and elegant aesthetic in mind. I aimed to create cohesive throughout all their materials.

    The signage was designed to be simple yet sophisticated, with clear, easy-to-read typography and an eye-catching design.

    The use of clean lines and a neutral color palette helps the signage blend seamlessly into the spa’s overall aesthetic, while the luxurious font choice adds to the spa’s high-end feel.

    The signage was created to be practical and functional, while also contributing to the spa’s overall luxury feel.

    By designing simple, yet luxurious indoor signage, I was able to create a seamless and cohesive visual experience for clients, while also effectively communicating the various areas and treatments available at Purity spa. The signage serves not only a functional purpose, but also reinforces the brand’s commitment to providing clients with a relaxing and rejuvenating spa experience

  • Maldita: A sauce branding

    Maldita: A sauce branding

    Maldita is a brand of Pimenta da Terra, an Azorean condiment which consists in a thick sauce made of Azorean peppers and salt. In the Azorean cuisine, this spicy and salty sauce adds flavor to dishes, marinates meats, and serves as a perfect accompaniment to cheese and bread.

    They offer a unique flavour to enhance the taste of any dish. Their goal was to create a visual identity that not only reflected their unique taste profile but also captured the vibrant azorean culture.

    My role was to develop a visual identity that was simple but bold, which also included creating it’s packaging that should be aligned with the brand’s personality. Ultimately, I wanted to create a design that would stand out of the supermarket shelves.

    As a brand designer, I am passionate about creating bold and distinctive brand identities that help companies stand out in their respective industries. One of my most recent projects was for Maldita, a sauce brand that wanted to bring a fresh and modern look to their packaging.

    Main logo for Maldita, a spicy sauce branding

    Maldita is a Pimenta da Terra sauce brand that offers a unique flavour to enhance the taste of any dish. Their goal was to create a visual identity that not only reflected their unique taste profile but also captured the vibrant azorean culture.

    To achieve this goal, I began by researching the azorean cuisine, exploring the various spices, flavors, and ingredients that make it so unique. I used this knowledge to inform the color palette, typography, and overall aesthetic of the Maldita brand.

    To bring the branding to life, I designed a series of packaging labels that included eye-catching illustrations and playful but bold typography.

    The brush style of the lettering paired with the italics conveys a screaming sensation that we associate with spicy. The brand name itself reinforces this idea: Maldita in Portuguese means cursed/damn.

    The result was a cohesive and visually impactful design that effectively conveyed the unique qualities of Maldita’s sauces.

    The final result was a bold and eye-catching design that showcased the brand’s playfulness while communicating its premium quality and unique taste. The vibrant red color palette was inspired by the fiery peppers and bold flavors of azorean cuisine.

    Overall, the Maldita branding project was a great opportunity for me to showcase my design skills and my ability to create a bold, memorable brand identity that reflects brand’s unique offering.