Monumento’s vibrant identity for Salsa Norte is inherently nostalgic and innately attentive

Monterrey-based creative office Monumento has brought a personal touch to friends of the studio and family run business Salsa Norte. Renowned for their homemade salsa brought to every gathering with a half-decent excuse for it being there, the opportunity arose for the family to bring these delicious offerings to the masses with the help of Monumento, in doing so paying homage to Northern México and the lost stories of the land.

Named in reference to the North of México, the birthplace of Salsa, Monumento tells us that in entitling it as such they look to both “pay tribute to that” as well as create sensitivity towards “nostalgia and authenticity” – partly accomplished by their beautiful custom typeface. With influences from “regional aesthetics, vintage packaging, Mexican vernacular design and vintage liquors,” Monumento have managed to craft something incredibly original, resulting in a confidently naive and similarly considered piece of design.

In achieving the same outcome, the team chose ITC Garamond as their supporting typeface, due to its “classic and contemporary feel,” as well as Mrs Eaves to provide hospitality and friendliness to Garamond’s sincerity. Completing the trio of supportive typefaces is Graphik, creating a powerful combination that supplies the flexibility and practicality required for the enormity of information obligatory to product packaging. Tackling this seemingly boring design element with a keen sense of expression, Monumento set to continue translating a sense of belonging and home across the identity, even in the smallest miniature of the packaging. “The orientation and placement was chosen to give dynamism and contrast with the strong and bold wordmark,” they recall, translating to charismatic positioning and ephemeral features.

With the vibrant colour choices relating to the flavours of each salsa, Monumento aim to express “the overall ‘tasting vibe’ of each recipe,” whilst determining the secondary colour tones through hues found across México’s northern landscape. In the same vein, Monumento looked to translate as such beside photographer Monica Rodriguez in the documentation and art direction of Norte – looking to express “rawness, northern nostalgia and the intensity of the flavours.”

In a masterful showcase of limitations and esteem for the product, what it represented and the circumstances, Monumento have smashed it out of the park – producing an identity rich in forethought and heritage, whilst remaining attentively contemporary.

Monumento