Ferris Coffee Packaging System

Package Design

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Package Design & System: Ferris Coffee & Nut Graphics Team + Open Digital @ OST

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Supporting Work
Labels: Ursula Casanova, Lisa Pavia, Kacie Forbes
Iconography: Lisa Pavia, Ursula Casanova
Copywriting: Ursula Casanova, Lisa Pavia
Product Photography: Julie Line—Big Event Studios, Lina Lash

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Ferris Coffee & Nut Co. is a coffee and nut roaster established in 1924 with roots in the west side of Grand Rapids, MI. During its lifetime, it has changed ownership only a few times, with current ownership starting in 1985. For a company that has been around as long as Ferris, change is inevitable. They rebranded in 2014 but as Ferris Coffee & Nut Co. rapidly evolved, it quickly became apparent that the coffee packaging Ferris was using was no longer working. The old packaging was dark, classic and had a heavy focus on heritage. While heritage is an extremely important part of Ferris' identity, the company's focus was shifting towards the future, and the marketing strategy had completely pivoted from heritage, to a strategy focused on storytelling.

Using a collaborative approach and with the help of Open Digital, we were able to redesign our coffee packaging system entirely. We updated the aesthetic to reflect a more modern look. We chose a different form for our coffee bags to have better shelf presence. The labels were entirely redesigned not only to work on both the 12 oz. and 5 lb. bags (which wasn't possible before the redesign), but also to be used as storytelling opportunities. Every single coffee got its own unique label in order to visually tell the story behind it -- about 70 different labels were designed, with new designs coming out every year. The copy shifted from discussing heritage to focusing on the importance of the people behind the product.

Overall, the new design and system is a much better representation of who Ferris is today.