BRAND GUIDELINES

LAIRD SUPERFOOD // BRAND CREATIVE DIRECTION

I joined the team at Laird Superfood very early on when the company was still in start-up mode. The organization was pretty loose, and not much care was given to design and branding consistency. Along with that, the brand was exploding, and the need to create assets and marketing collateral was growing exponentially. Seeing a need for a cohesive visual design system, I developed and implemented creative brand guidelines for all business segments — used for everything from website, email, and social media to events/activations & packaging.

I designed these brand guidelines to embody the spirit of Laird and his mission to bring clean, plant-based ingredients to everyone with his Coconut coffee creamers, drink mixes, and supplements. Laird grew up in Hawaii and is a big wave surfing pioneer. His home on Kauai is surrounded by lush tropical vegetation, which is bountiful in fresh fruits and vegetables — often the source for his superfood concoctions. The ocean waves are always visible, and the sunrises and sunsets create some of the most vibrant sunrise and sunset hues of orange, red, and pink. I brought all of these elements together to tell a visual story and give resonance to where Laird's mission and the products it promotes come from.

These brand guidelines helped solidify Laird Superfood's message and mission through visual hierarchy and consistency. As the brand grew, its reach extended from its humble beginnings in Laird's kitchen to coffee shops, grocery stores, and even POP Culture, leading to its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION

HARVEST DATES PRODUCT LAUNCH // ART DIRECTION

Laird Superfood’s debut into the snack space required an informative commercial to help teach consumers about the Medjool Date, “The King of Dates.” In collaboration with the executive suite and our CMO, I scripted a storyboard and traveled to California to help produce this video. This shoot was unique due to its location and the logistics of capturing the fruit's journey from the tree and into your pantry. There were helmet cameras, cranes, and a complete set built in the middle of the date farm. Thanks to a solid production team, helpful farmers, and of course Laird and Gabby, the shoot was a success, and the commercial played a pivotal role in the successful launch of this product.

CONTENT DIRECTION

LIFESTYLE VIDEO // BRANDING & ART DIRECTION

Laird Superfood's customer base had expanded from regional to national, and with that came the need to communicate with new customers. By partnering with a fresh, creative production team mainly focused on capturing outdoor lifestyle and action sports imagery, we collaborated and brought Laird Superfood into new adventures. Through collaborative direction and the talented cast of model athletes, we produced two new pieces of content for the brand.

The first video features the HYDRATE line of coconut water. Its mineral-enriched formula makes it the perfect drink mix for providing electrolytes to athletes in a smooth, clean coconut flavor. The cast of athletes is seen pushing themselves through various physical activities, which are all set on an urban waterfront with the backdrop of the Seattle City Skyline.

The second video features INSTAFUEL, a clean, plant-based instant coffee perfect for anyone on the go. I wanted to show the simplicity and ease of the quick three-step preparation process — scoop, pour, and mix. Sharing the experience with a team of mountain bikers, we captured their morning coffee preparation after waking from a night of car camping

BRANDING & ART DIRECTION: DAN MOHR

PRODUCTION AGENCY: STEEP MOTION FILMS

PHOTOGRAPHY: COLTON JACOBS

ANIMATION PRODUCTION

KEY INGREDIENTS ANIMATED SERIES // ART DIRECTION

When Covid hit, our production capabilities became limited. With no way to gather or travel, we had to get creative in creating content and conveying messages to our consumers. While experiencing intense growth from increased DTC sales, we knew the content had to keep flowing and become more focused through digital content. An animated series was our best bet for fun, informative content creation at the early stages of lockdown.

I built eight separate storyboards for our "Key Ingredients" series, which would focus on all the great ingredients in Laird Superfood Products. Taking cues from current trends, I developed an animation style that resonated with our audience and represented the values of the brand and its mission. The script, which was written with collaboration from the marketing and compliance teams, was tailored to fit into the storyboard and read by Chef Rodman Machado, a personal friend of Laird, and recorded at a sound studio in Hawaii. The production process was a collaborative adventure into animation and included multiple rounds of proofing and revisions before sending.

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION

WHAT’S IN YOUR CREAMER // ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION

As the popularity of Laird Superfood Liquid Creamer continued to rise, the need for customer education grew, too. I was part of the team that developed this clever commercial. We created this campaign over multiple weeks, many rounds of conception, various production locations and sets — Los Angeles and Kauai — and a tedious post-editing process. Up until working on this project, I had been a part of smaller, more scrappy productions.

This experience taught me so much about commercial video production on a large scale and how many people and teams it takes to make creative campaigns like this one successful.

EVENT RECAP VIDEO

LSF X RVCA BANZAI PIPE MASTERS ACTIVATION // DIRECTOR

This is an event recap video edit made for Laird Superfood's activation during the 2019 Banzai Pipe Masters surf event in Oahu, Hawaii. This was one of the first media projects that I worked on at Laird Superfood. I was asked the night before leaving to come along and represent the brand. I had no idea what to expect, and there were a lot of logistics involved with setting up the activations that I had to manage while capturing this content.

I had no idea what to expect and had to figure things out on the fly. The island's camera rental houses were booked out since the surf contest was so popular. Luckily, I had an iPhone and a small Movi Phone Gimbal.

This experience was amazing and the thrill of the unknown added so much excitement to this production. It was a total grassroots project, and everything happened so naturally. I’m thankful for the events and marketing team that helped make this happen and all of the athletes and brand reps who were a part of our celebration!

This video edit was captured, edited, and posted to social feeds in less than 24 hours.

PACKAGING DESIGN

LAIRD SUPERFOOD // PACKAGING DESIGN & PRODUCTION

I managed the design and production of Laird Superfood packaging. to develop product packaging that was FDA compliant, and met the needs of our customers and markets, I worked x departmentally with R & D, Compliance, Ops, Marketing, and Sales. I developed and produced branded packaging for a diverse product line, using containers like gusseted zipper bags, pallet case trays, boxes, cartons, K Cup pods, and more. The applications for production varied with suppliers as well – flexo, gravure, and digital printing were the most common methods used for packaging and secondary packaging. I often traveled to suppliers to ensure quality in production through press checks.