EDC BRANDING PROJECT #HC733
HARVEST CATERING CO.
REALLY GOOD FOOD FOR REALLY GOOD EVENTS.
HARVEST STARTED…
…as a reaction to an event where a caterer served raw chicken. If you’ve ever cooked before, you know that’s bad news. Julia Still and Myles Willman, both of whom worked in restaurants and kitchens, we’re like “Dude that’s gross. We can do better!”
From then on they set out to make custom menus filled with incredible food for catered events created to fit exactly in any budget.
All that was left was for us to come together and create a brand and messaging that told people exactly what they brought to the table!
WE WANTED TO CREATE A BRAND THAT WAS REFINED, BUT TOUGH.
In the catering world you see a lot of weddings. Usually that means you’re either being hired by a bride, or a wedding planner. Caterers and other wedding industry companies play to that. Make the brand feminine and elegant. I mean hey, it works! We just wanted to do something different.
Harvest is all about making delicious food for anyone hosting any event, and knocking it out of the park. They look at your budget, as well as what you actually want to eat, and make it happen. No nonsense. No frills. They do whatever it takes to make you food that your guests will never forget.
We wanted to show that in the visual identity. I mean, if you look at Myles and Julia, you know they ain’t no wimps. The Harvest logo means business. It’s serious, tough, and professional. We wanted to make the brand look strong and have it show that they were gonna take care of the very serious business of making amazing food, and get the job done right.
HARVEST HAS SINCE OPENED A RESTAURANT,
AND THE BRAND CONTINUES TO GROW.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD aND THE CUSTOMER.
When we first started talking about the project Julia came up to me and said “I came up with a slogan for Harvest!”
“Alright let me hear it!” says I.
“Where people and excellence meet!” she said with a big smile.
crickets
I looked at her for a minute and asked “What the heck does that have to do with food?!”
She looked back at me like I had just popped her balloon (which I kinda did. Sorry Julia.) and I continued “You’re thinking too hard. Yeah you wanna do everything you do with excellence but telling your customers that doesn’t help them at all. ‘where people and excellence meet’ sounds professional and impressive but it' doesn’t tell your customer how you solve their problem. You should be telling people “we make really good food for really good events.”
We looked at each other and knew we were on to something.
We kept the language simple. It’s about all the amazing food and making the customer’s event a success. That’s what the people are looking for. They don’t need another greasy barbecue bar and cold cocktail wieners, they want to impress their friends and leave the even with a full belly. That’s what Harvest’s messaging is all about. It’s not that hard.
WE MADE SURE THEIR WEBSITE DID JUST THAT.
We designed their website to tell customers exactly what they’ll get when they work with harvest, and how they can get it! We followed the branding we created and made sure the website looks and feels exactly like everything else you’ll get from Harvest. Simple, strong, serious, and ready to get the job done.
Creating a website can be confusing unless you know what you’re doing. I don’t mean all the coding and craziness that goes into web development, I’m talking about language. A website can look fantastic and have all the bells and whistles, but if it’s not saying the right stuff in the right places, it’s just not gonna work for you.
We’re continuing to work on the website to make sure it’s doing everything it’s supposed to. From the language to the layout to the photos, we’re always making sure that everything on the website shows off the Harvest brand in the best way possible.
“Evan did an amazing job simplifying a very intimidating topic. Our logo and website look amazing, and I feel empowered to take ownership of my brand and run with it moving forward!”
— Myles Willman. Co-Owner & Executive Chef.
