Rao's Frozen Redesign
Redesign the current Rao's Made for Home Frozen Entrées packaging to increase shelf presence and keep food at the forefront.
2024
Process
01 Client Brief
We kicked off the project by receiving a detailed brief from the Rao’s Homemade marketing team. From there, we identified key challenges, with the most pressing being the disjointed branding and the lack of appetite appeal in the current frozen entrée packaging. Our focus became clear: unify the design and bring irresistible food photography to the forefront.
02 Competitive Research
In this phase, I gathered packaging examples from top competitors within the frozen food aisle to better understand the landscape. Knowing that food photography was a major issue from the brief, I also pulled a variety of food styling and photography inspiration to explore different ways we could elevate appetite appeal and create a stronger shelf presence.
03 Sketches
Before moving into digital iterations, I created a series of quick sketches to visualize different ways we could solve the problems outlined in the brief. These sketches helped spark early ideas around photography integration, brand blocking, and how to bring warmth and authenticity into the new design system.
04 Design Iterations
Design iterations were the most extensive phase, involving constant feedback from my manager and multiple internal critiques. Over the course of three rounds of formal presentations, we refined our concepts and presented polished iterations to the Rao’s brand team, each time getting closer to a design that captured the craveable, true-to-home experience.
05 Full Pack Design
Once the front-of-pack design was finalized, we shifted focus to a full pack exploration. We extended the new look and feel to the sides, back, and top of the packaging to ensure a seamless and cohesive brand experience that celebrated both the food and the iconic Rao’s branding.
06 Extensions
In the final phase, the team expanded the new design system across all SKUs, covering both family-size and single-serve meals. We also developed adaptations for club packaging used in retailers like Costco and Sam’s Club, ensuring the design maintained its impact across all retail environments.
