The high-stakes challenge
At the heart of FoodLama’s journey was the vision of creating a diet-diverse, inclusive world where everyone can easily navigate their food preferences. While the brand had a clear purpose, the challenge was establishing a verbal identity and core essence to reflect this ambition.
Partnering with FoodLama, the goal was to build a cohesive brand DNA—crystallizing its purpose, vision, values, tone, and positioning to resonate deeply with users. This clarity became the foundation for rethinking the name and identity, ensuring it aligned with the user’s needs and the brand’s aspirations.
The Name
The name “FoodLama” combines two interesting elements that reflect its social and resourceful character. The word "Food" clearly ties to the brand’s core offering, while "Lama," inspired by the smart, social animal, gives the brand a memorable and approachable personality.
Unlike its former name, Clickerance, which didn’t align with the brand’s essence, FoodLama exudes a sense of friendliness and intelligence, making it easy to recall and connect with.
Three Mascot(eers)
The brand name "Lama" inspires the mascot, seamlessly tying into the fun and friendly essence of Foodlama. Lama is the knowledgeable and approachable friend who makes navigating grocery choices enjoyable and stress-free.Acting as the “face” of the brand, Lama connects with users as a cheerful companion, guiding them through personalized food preferences with charm and ease.
Lama comes to life in three distinct variations, each tailored to align with the message's tone and voice. The cool mascot embodies a laid-back, respectful vibe perfect for casual interactions, while the nerdy mascot shines in enthusiastic and witty moments, bringing humor and excitement to user experiences. The main mascot, balanced and reliable, anchors the brand’s visual identity and is the default choice when tone needs to remain steady and versatile.
Pattern & Texture
Just as no two fingerprints are alike, most families have unique food preferences. This inspired the idea of embedding different food classes into the whorls, loops, and arches of fingerprint-like designs, visually representing the personal and diverse nature of dietary preferences.
Think about how you’d describe the shape of an avocado to a friend over the phone. You’d likely start tracing shapes in the air. That’s the essence we wanted for FoodLama’s patterns: personalized, hand-drawn squiggles that mimic those instinctive sketches we make when words fall short.The patterns are whimsical yet simple enough to let the brand’s message shine through, reinforcing a sense of individuality and curated food preferences.
Illustration Style
Recognizing the power of illustration to engage and excite users, we developed a distinctive illustration style that centered on creating a relatable and whimsical hand-drawn style. This refreshing aesthetic depicts FoodLama's approachable nature and sets them apart in the market.
Key elements of the style include hand-drawn strokes for a personal touch, solid color fills for clarity and impact, a grocery-based theme to reinforce their core offering, minimal details for easy comprehension, and whimsical lines for emphasis and personality.
Infusing FoodLama’s illustration system with their visual identity, supports their brand message and fosters meaningful connections with their audience.
