Deep Dish Carton RedesigN
Art Direction / Packaging
Role: Art Director
Work done for Bravo Restaurants Group
In 2019 the Gino’s East Frozen Pizzas cartons underwent a major redesign. Three years later, I was again approached to tackle updating the package design based on updated customer interaction. Gino’s East wanted to focus on a natural looking box with a greater emphasis on color than the previous boxes. With that knowledge in mind, I proposed a carton with a natural carton look, bold typography that more closely aligned with Gino’s East as a brand, and an emphasis on the Gino’s East story.
Gino’s East Deep Dish Cartons
Original Packaging 2017
Gino’s East Deep Dish Cartons
Updated Packaging 2019
The 2019 update to the Deep Dish cartons focused on bold simplification by using a color blocking system to help with customer self selection. Each flavor of pizza was assigned its own unique color which would help customers automatically locate the one they wanted. The updated design saw a surge in flavor selection that allowed the brand to expand into more freezer sections. This also paved the way for updated Tavern Style cartons and the inclusion of more flavors.
New concepts for 2024
After 4 years, Gino’s East conducted customer analytics and found that there was room for an improved carton. Research showed customers responded to bold colors, but the size of the cartons and the way they were stacked in the freezer section made it difficult to find. The Gino’s East team also wanted to acknowledge their roots and incorporate the checkerboard pattern from their original logo.
Concept one utilized the texture of cardboard and paired that with the same bold colors that customers had grown accustomed to. The typography is simplified and more in line with current Gino’s East branding. Bold callouts in the Gino’s East yellow reminds the customer why this deep dish is the legend.
Concept two took a different approach with a dark background and a focus on the legendary cheese pull. Large and crisp typography describes exactly why you should buy this deep dish and forget about the rest.
After much back and forth, the Gino’s team agreed that concept one would have broader mass appeal to their customers in the freezer section.
The Original. Handmade. Bold. Deep.
With this new box design, I wanted to convey to the customer that our pizzas are not mass-produced. The proposed design will be printed on chipboard pizza boxes and preserve the natural color of this material. This not only mimics the way a restaurant pizza is packaged, it also conveys to the customer a more handmade feel. Studies have shown that consumers interested in small-batch, hand-crafted items tend to choose natural cardboard materials over glossy boxes.
Don’t Forget Your Roots
Gino’s East was started by two taxi cab drivers and a dream of pizza on the Magnificent Mile. I brought back the checkered background with the Gino’s East iconic logo in order to remind customers; we’re slinging the same pizzas we were back in 1966.
We’re in the oven
With approvals through and cartons off to print, stay tuned for the new and improved deep dish, tavern style and economy style frozen pizzas!