Vital Farms Eggs
Transforming an everyday egg carton into a work of art
It’s hard to believe everyone’s favorite pasture-raised eggs didn’t always turn heads. It took a special touch to take these ordinary cartons from everyday to egg-ceptional.
Before
After
Freedom to Forage
There are few things as ubiquitous as an egg carton. They’ve been in our refrigerators since our earliest childhood memories. Oftentimes in styrofoam, sometimes in plastic or recycled cardboard. Historically, egg carton designs have been extremely practical with little room for flourish or personality.
When Vital Farms approached me to redesign their cartons in 2014, it was a fun challenge to undertake. How could we reinvent this kitchen staple? Wiping the slate clean, I chose to focus on defining a visual hierarchy, creating beautiful and legible woodtype-inspired typography, and developing a playful and distinct aesthetic that stood out from the crowd.
At the time, my work creating typographic chalk murals was having a moment, and so I approached the carton panels like I would a mural. The result was a bold black carton with a large hand-lettered “headline” and supporting copy in each corner. The negative space was filled with whimsical flowers and grasses, symbolizing the 108 square feet of outdoor space for each hen on a pasture-raised small farm. Almost ten years later, the design hasn’t changed all that much, which I consider a great compliment. And the now-famous orange yolks are just as delicious. What a duo! When something stands the test of time, I think it’s what’s referred to as a classic.
Organic Eggs
With the success of the original Alfresco Pasture-Raised egg carton, Vital Farms commissioned a second design for their Organic line. We decided the background would utilize a kraft paper–like texture over the black chalkboard look. The general composition remained the same, but the overall artwork was drawn with a smoother, less-textured digital pen rather than the original chalk-like pencil on paper. It’s this design that has been used as the basis for other Vital Farms lines such as True Blues, Organic Restorative, and Non-GMO.
