Before

After

Before

After

The Leprino Rebrand

Going into their 75th year in business, Leprino wanted to update their brand. Their logo had served the company well for 45 years, and a lot had changed in that time. It was time their identity expressed who they are and where they are today.

Leprino is the world's largest producer of Mozzarella. They boast an amazing story, starting as a corner store in Denver, CO in 1950. They are still headquartered on the same block, but now produce millions of pounds of cheese per week. They also still supply some of the same customers as they did when they started.

Leprino had a reputation of being stiff, buttoned up, and old school. The new visual identity addresses this by using a bright color pallet, patterns, and a stylistic accent font, connecting back to its roots as an Italian grocery store.

This rebrand was not to redefine themselves, change who they are, or adjust course. It was to double down on who they are - hence shortening the name to Leprino. Their Vision, Mission, and Core Values remained the same, but would come to life in a more expressive way.

Role:
Designer on the internal, 2-man creative team

Leprino's website

Shortening the Name was Multi-Purpose

Primarily, it was a step to modernize the company. Just like Dunkin Donuts went to Dunkin, and Dominos Pizza went to Dominos, Leprino Foods became Leprino.

It also opened up the company to expand their products outside of food, something that had already begun happening in the company.

The Logo was Adjusted by:

Removing the F block
Adding yellow to add dimension and expression
Rounding 2 of the corners
Balancing the spacing of the three segments

We Also Repaired the Brand's Architecture

Over time, programs, projects, and departments got their own logos and made a mess. We organized them into a cohesive system.

Before

After

We did 2 Photoshoots to Bring the Brand to Life

The First was for Product:

We paired product families together in their raw and cooked forms to show the variety of products that Leprino makes.

To make the food look as delicious as possible we used intense lighting to create crisp shadows and bright colors. To fill in the image, the backgrounds include a variety of colors, texture, and patterns,

The Second was for People and Culture:

The cheese is good, but the people are better. This shoot focused on people that had been at the company a long time or had a significant contribution to the company's success. The people featured are from different locations, job functions, backgrounds, and ethnicities to show who makes Leprino, Leprino.

We did two types of photos, headshots and "slice-of-life's". Both took on a friendly, light-hearted feel, showing casual smiles, off-camera glances, and colorful backgrounds.

I wasn't supposed to be in this photoshoot, but I stood in for a test shot and ended up making the final cut.

The Big Reveal at the Annual All-Hands Meeting

This entire project was done over the course of ~20 months and kept secret to everyone in the company (5500 employees, worldwide; 600 in the corporate office). In total, there were 20-30 internal people that worked on the project in some capacity. All the design and creative work was done by myself and the Creative Director.

We Created Two Videos for the Reveal:

The First to Reveal the Logo

The Second to Reveal the Brand

Then the President/CEO and Chairman of the Board Revealed the Stage to Kick-Off the Rest of the Meeting

Full Stage Design

Intermission Video

Following the Reveal, our Chief Task was to Build Equity in the New Brand

That meant a lot of updating existing assets and creating new ones. Programs got new logos and lockups, office collateral was redesigned, and design projects came flooding in.

Below are some of my favorite things I created to bring the brand to life.

Brand Identity Posters

Displayed around the corporate office, 9 U.S. production facilities, and several other international offices and facilities.

The "Leprino Difference" Badges

These badges represent the company's expertise and unique offerings. They are the core pieces of what makes Leprino successful and are key to showing new customers why they should partner with Leprino.

Some are associated with a team within the company, others are representative of offerings and promises the company makes.

Innovation Studio Logo

The Innovation Studio is a team of marketers, strategists, chefs, and creatives that serve as the company's internal agency.

They provide customers with consumer insights, menu development, and maintain equity in the brand. They are dedicated to the "Innovation Focus" pillar of the "Leprino Difference".

The logo uses the same typography and light bulb icon from "Leprino Difference" badge. The filament in the light bulb is a nod to the new logo and creates an "LD" - referencing the "Leprino Difference".

Pizza Expo Booth

As a staple in the pizza industry, Leprino is a regular at the largest trade show for pizza in the world. It will also be the coming-out party for the newly created sub-brand, Leprino Cheese.

Real photos of the booth coming in March...