Work
Year
Year
2026
2026
Client
Client
UmamiBox
UmamiBox
Wild flavor. Refined taste.
Duration
Duration
6 months
6 months
Location
Location
Berlin, DE
Berlin, DE
Industry
Industry
Food & E-commerce
Food & E-commerce
Deliverables
Deliverables
Brand identity, web design, e-commerce development, art direction, mascot design, and brand guidelines.
Brand identity, web design, e-commerce development, art direction, mascot design, and brand guidelines.
UmamiBox is a gourmet food e-commerce brand with a character as unexpected as its flavors. What started as a curated subscription for umami-rich ingredients evolved into a full website and e-commerce experience — bold, nature-rooted and anchored by a mascot that people remember long after the first order.
UmamiBox is a gourmet food e-commerce brand with a character as unexpected as its flavors. What started as a curated subscription for umami-rich ingredients evolved into a full website and e-commerce experience — bold, nature-rooted and anchored by a mascot that people remember long after the first order.
Designing a Gourmet E-commerce Brand Bold Enough to Match Its Own Flavors
Designing a Gourmet E-commerce Brand Bold Enough to Match Its Own Flavors
UmamiBox needed an identity as layered and unexpected as the fifth taste itself. The brand had a strong product — a curated selection of umami-rich pantry ingredients sourced from independent producers — but nothing in its visual presence communicated the depth or personality behind it. The brief was to build something that stopped people mid-scroll. Not through convention, but through an image that demanded a second look. The crocodile — rendered in botanical porcelain tones against a deep forest green — became the brand's defining visual statement.
UmamiBox needed an identity as layered and unexpected as the fifth taste itself. The brand had a strong product — a curated selection of umami-rich pantry ingredients sourced from independent producers — but nothing in its visual presence communicated the depth or personality behind it. The brief was to build something that stopped people mid-scroll. Not through convention, but through an image that demanded a second look. The crocodile — rendered in botanical porcelain tones against a deep forest green — became the brand's defining visual statement.
The botanical illustration treatment applied directly to the reptile's scales bridges the primal and the refined — exactly the tension that defines umami as a flavor. It is ancient and elegant, aggressive and delicate, all at once. That contradiction became the creative foundation for the entire identity system. The deep green environment was extracted from the color of dried seaweed and wild herbs — two ingredients central to the UmamiBox catalogue. The palette grounds the brand in nature without retreating into the predictable earth tones of most food brands.
The botanical illustration treatment applied directly to the reptile's scales bridges the primal and the refined — exactly the tension that defines umami as a flavor. It is ancient and elegant, aggressive and delicate, all at once. That contradiction became the creative foundation for the entire identity system. The deep green environment was extracted from the color of dried seaweed and wild herbs — two ingredients central to the UmamiBox catalogue. The palette grounds the brand in nature without retreating into the predictable earth tones of most food brands.
Building an E-commerce Experience as Considered as the Products Inside the Box
Building an E-commerce Experience as Considered as the Products Inside the Box
The website was designed around the logic of discovery. UmamiBox customers are not shopping for convenience — they are looking for ingredients they have never tried and flavors they cannot name yet. The e-commerce architecture was built to guide that exploration, with editorial-style product pages that explain the origin, producer and best use of each ingredient before asking for the add-to-cart. Navigation was kept minimal and the product photography was shot on textured surfaces that reference the natural origins of each item. The goal was to make the site feel like browsing a carefully edited deli, not an online warehouse.
The website was designed around the logic of discovery. UmamiBox customers are not shopping for convenience — they are looking for ingredients they have never tried and flavors they cannot name yet. The e-commerce architecture was built to guide that exploration, with editorial-style product pages that explain the origin, producer and best use of each ingredient before asking for the add-to-cart. Navigation was kept minimal and the product photography was shot on textured surfaces that reference the natural origins of each item. The goal was to make the site feel like browsing a carefully edited deli, not an online warehouse.
The website was designed around the logic of discovery. UmamiBox customers are not shopping for convenience — they are looking for ingredients they have never tried and flavors they cannot name yet. The e-commerce architecture was built to guide that exploration, with editorial-style product pages that explain the origin, producer and best use of each ingredient before asking for the add-to-cart. Navigation was kept minimal and the product photography was shot on textured surfaces that reference the natural origins of each item. The goal was to make the site feel like browsing a carefully edited deli, not an online warehouse.
The mascot — the botanical crocodile — appears across the site as a recurring character: in the hero, on loading states, on packaging inserts and in campaign imagery. It creates continuity across touchpoints without becoming a gimmick, because the art direction maintains the same level of craft at every scale. The subscription flow was redesigned to feel like curation rather than a form. Customers select flavor preferences and intensity levels, and the language throughout uses the vocabulary of taste rather than logistics. The result is an onboarding experience that builds anticipation for the box before it even ships.
The mascot — the botanical crocodile — appears across the site as a recurring character: in the hero, on loading states, on packaging inserts and in campaign imagery. It creates continuity across touchpoints without becoming a gimmick, because the art direction maintains the same level of craft at every scale. The subscription flow was redesigned to feel like curation rather than a form. Customers select flavor preferences and intensity levels, and the language throughout uses the vocabulary of taste rather than logistics. The result is an onboarding experience that builds anticipation for the box before it even ships.
The mascot — the botanical crocodile — appears across the site as a recurring character: in the hero, on loading states, on packaging inserts and in campaign imagery. It creates continuity across touchpoints without becoming a gimmick, because the art direction maintains the same level of craft at every scale. The subscription flow was redesigned to feel like curation rather than a form. Customers select flavor preferences and intensity levels, and the language throughout uses the vocabulary of taste rather than logistics. The result is an onboarding experience that builds anticipation for the box before it even ships.
•
Feedback
"We had a great product and a forgettable brand. Now we have a crocodile that people send to their friends before they even tell them what's inside the box. The site conversion rate went up and the average order value went up with it. The identity did both jobs at once."
Tobias Kramer
Founder, UmamiBox
"We had a great product and a forgettable brand. Now we have a crocodile that people send to their friends before they even tell them what's inside the box. The site conversion rate went up and the average order value went up with it. The identity did both jobs at once."
Tobias Kramer
Founder, UmamiBox
•
Feedback
"We had a great product and a forgettable brand. Now we have a crocodile that people send to their friends before they even tell them what's inside the box. The site conversion rate went up and the average order value went up with it. The identity did both jobs at once."
Tobias Kramer
Founder, UmamiBox
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