Mix & Match

Brief

The assignment required conceptualizing and designing a new product line for the Illy brand, with a primary focus on brand image and packaging design. The challenge was to extend Illy's premium positioning into an entirely new product category without diluting the brand's identity or confusing its existing coffee audience.

Concept

The project is built around an innovative premise: stepping away from tradition to reimagine coffee as a culinary spice. Developed in collaboration with chef and Illy ambassador Francesco Apreda, the strategy introduces two new food products. The first is a ready-to-use seasoning pouch blending coffee, whole salt, and pink pepper; the second is a versatile spice mix designed to enhance everyday meals, from pasta to grilled proteins.

Brand Identity

The Mix & Match name captures both the product logic (combining coffee with other flavors) and the brand's collaborative spirit (Illy matched with Apreda). The visual identity borrows Illy's disciplined red and white language, then opens it up with warmer, culinary textures, grain, salt crystals, pepper, rendered in a clean contemporary system. The packaging uses die-cut windows to reveal the product's texture as part of the design.

Strategy & Outcome

Beyond the physical packaging, the project integrates a cross-promotional marketing strategy offering reciprocal discounts between Illy products and Chef Apreda's restaurant. The final deliverable encompasses the complete Mix & Match brand identity, logo, advertising materials, exhibition stands, and a dedicated social media presence, designed to fully support the product launch across retail, hospitality, and digital channels.