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Harry Bennett
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Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science


Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science
Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science
Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science
Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science
Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science
Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science
Koto designs a natural identity for Meatable, a Dutch company making cruelty-free meat with science

Climate change is one of the fasted growing issues of our generation. Especially when it comes down to meat consumption, with a demand that continues to increase around the globe. This is very the focus point to Meatable – a Dutch startup developing cruelty-free technologies for the manufacturing of meat – that recently saw an update of its brand identity, designed by London-based Koto.

Viewing meat as an essential part of a balanced diet, Meatable aims to be the first company to produce ‘cultivated meat’ both “efficiently and sustainably at scale,” says the company in an announcement. In this sense, the company creates its own meat using swabs on unharmed animals using science and technology; it views industrial farming as the issue, and hopes for a world filled with happy cows grazing in fields, free of slaughter and human consumption.

Some might think of cultivated meat as a futuristic element taken from science fiction, yet Meatable is bringing this idea into the mainstream through a universal brand identity and strategy to boot – one that’s clear and can resonate fully with every member of its audience.

When it came to designing the identity, the visual language needed to mirror this sustainable and future-focused tone of voice. ‘The new natural’, is how Meatable terms it, meaning that the visuals had to sing with both modern ideas and essences taken from a nostalgic, green past. As such, the creative team bought hundreds of vintage postcards from Europe and the US where cows graze peacefully, pulling inspiration from the illustrations, typography, art direction, layout, colours and messaging.

Therefore, Koto paired the brand’s message with the bountiful typeface, GT America Condensed – inspired by advertisements of the 70s. “It gives us a good option for more functional and informative messaging, like annotations,” says Arthur Foliard, Senior Designer at Koto. “It works extremely well with GT Alpina, our headline typeface.”

This merging of the old and new means that the content is easier to digest and can relate to an audience on a more universal scale. What’s more is that the functional and retro-inspired typefaces portray a sense of trust and honesty, which gives the brand an increased level of authenticity.

As for the colours, unsurprisingly there’s plenty of natural tones. Symbolising the grazing fields, and a greener and more natural planet, it’s an apt choice considering Meatable are striving for a more ethical and sustainable future. This is combined with swabs of bold red, used in order to evoke a sense of urgency and importance – not to mention the symbolic connotations of blood that comes with traditional meat farming.

These colours are entwined with empathic photography of our planet where the cows run free, and nature is thriving – a future that might not be so far away. So is cultivated meat the answer? With plans to launch the final product into the market in due course, Meatable and its updated, natural identity seems to think so.

Graphic Design

Koto

Typography

GT Alpina and GT America by Grilli Type

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