While Mojave Mallows has only been around for two short years, they’ve already gone through two packaging refreshes, which is certainly not uncommon for your average startup brand.
But for this brand of hand-cut, non-cylindrical marshmallows, they wanted to try something different, exploring different color treatments, vintage aesthetics, and, most importantly, getting rid of the product photography that graced the bags. We spoke with Mojave Mallows’ co-founder and Stephanie Chan (and creative director at Stephanie Ka-Man Chan) about moving away from squishy marshmallow photography and the brand’s deliciously psychedelic typography.
Tell us about yourself and how you came to the project.
I ran a design studio servicing arts and education clients and scaled back after I had my daughter in 2020. I am starting to build out my practice again, and this was one of the fun projects I worked on over the past year. Mojave Mallows is a family-run business I started in 2021 with my sister. I handle all of the creative work, and she does operations.
Could you walk us through the design process you went through for this project?
Every week, for about a month, I would open up the old packaging file in Illustrator, add an artboard, and play around. Pretty soon, I had a totally insane file with 50+ explorations. Around that time, I was working on a series of Kickstarter materials that had me exploring a more typographic approach. I added more type to the mix and shifted the ratio; it just worked. For the color palette, I pulled from vintage candy packaging color combinations, lots of pinks and blues, and built a system that could focus on two colors at a time for each flavor.
If we have this correct, the larger format bag eschews product photography. Why was that decision made?
The challenge with CPG food packaging is how you show people what’s inside. Early on, we packaged the marshmallows in clear packaging and silkscreened cardstock. However, clear packaging isn’t great for shelf life. A lot of companies solve this with photography, but because the marshmallows are hand-cut, they’re square instead of cylindrical, and people can’t tell what it is without context clues (often mistaken for tofu!). After several iterations, I decided we should lean into the unusual shape and celebrate it. It’s distinctive and what sets Mojave Mallows apart. After designing a slate of abstract marshmallow squares, I spread them all over the point-of-display boxes and the sides of the new bags.
Will the original packaging we saw in January eventually adopt this format and aesthetic?
Yes. Once those bags run out in the next production run, we’ll match the new look.
What was one of the biggest goals you set out to achieve with Mojave Mallow’s packaging, and how did you accomplish it?
A personal goal was to focus more on design and less on copywriting. Because I started as a copywriter, I still feel the urge to add a punchy headline and have that sell the product. But there is so much on an emotional level that design can do with an immediate impact.
Tell us more about the swirly and slightly psychedelic type treatment that the brand is using.
I was really inspired by the product. I thought, what would a font made of marshmallow look like? How would it melt? I stretched and distorted the type, wanting to apply the gooey attributes of a marshmallow while maintaining legibility. It ended up in a fun, swirly and psychedelic place.
What was the most challenging part of this project?
The color palette for all of the different flavors was tough! Due to the way the bags were printed, I had two dominant colors. After three or so combinations, they can start to feel similar. I sought out the help of my friend and designer Elisa Foster (she also collaborated with me on the logo). Together, we adapted the color system to favor a single color, with the second being more supplemental.
If you could pick one aspect of the finished design you like the most or feel proud of, what would it be and why?
I’m most proud of how it’s been received—since launching the new bags, the product sell-through has noticeably increased, and retailers are sharing positive feedback about how it’s perceived, picked up, and shown off in-store. This is a product, so at the end of the day, it’s got to sell.