The humble vegetable provides ample inspiration for Studio Nari on its latest work, as studio founder Caterina Bianchini recently explained to It’s Nice That. The project is an identity for Bunch (previously Vegan Mob), a new plant-based platform avoiding vegan dupes – such as fake meat and burgers – for the original substitute: vegetables. With its branding, Nari attests to the endless ways ingredients can be interpreted and broken down visually. For example, with motion design from Connor Campbell, the Bunch identity frequently mimics motions like tumbling, combining and growing to reflect “ingredients coming together to create a dish,” Caterina says. But perhaps the best example of replicating how ingredients move appears in the brand mark, where a selection of “B” characters are bunched together “like grapes”.
Caterina explains that as the bundle of “B”s are pinched together, they create a “warped cyclical shape”. This, in turn, “subliminally references the inside of a vegetable when you cut it in half”, the founder adds, “it creates segments. In motion this becomes really expressive and beautiful.” The animation on the project certainly feels energetic, often referencing growth patterns or playful cooking moments.
To depict the ingredients Bunch champions, Nari opts for a hyperreal illustrative style; “We wanted everything to look vibrant, delicious and ripe.” This approach also played into its “super vibrant colour palette”; vegetables and colours were made to look as “in season” as possible – when ingredients are at their most colourful (and most delicious).