Carbe Diem
Carbe Diem
SEIZING THE MOMENT
Health and diet trends have put carbs in the penalty box. So when the innovation team at General Mills came to us with a real wheat pasta that had half the carbs, we had to know more. All they needed was a brand to get over alt-pasta baggage, convince consumers to come back to the table, and take on the traditional powerhouses in the pasta aisle.
- Naming
- Identity
- Brand Strategy
- Brand World
- Packaging
- Art Direction
- Digital Storefront Design
In The Test Kitchen
Embedded with the brand team, we put our Design to Learn approach to work, creating test brands to get real-world consumer reactions and honest feedback. What we learned changed everything: pasta is emotional. Nobody wants “diet” pasta. Nobody is happy with substitutes. Lower carbs were important, but this brand couldn’t be about less — it had to be about more.
We threw out the “better-for-you” playbook of minimalist, clean-label, function-driven design and dove into the thrill of eating the foods you love once again.
The Carbe Diem! name itself is a rally cry to live life to the fullest. Rather than a sacrifice, the brand is a victory dance that calls for bold colors, confident type and an exclamation point turning every plate into a celebration.
From the bowl-shaped window on the front of pack to joy-filled photography, every moment served as an invitation to pasta lovers — welcoming them back and signaling something new. Carbe Diem! only tasted like it was “bad” for you, and that felt good. So good, the brand went from test concept to store shelves to Amazon in under 18 months.
