Farmyard
Helping a nationally-awarded restaurant move into the frozen food market, with electric attitude. Many people would argue that frozen food isn’t capable of serving up delicious, gourmet, ethically-sourced meals. In fact, frozen food has long been pitched as the antithesis of fine dining with an image of cheap, low-quality food. But with convenience being more important than ever in today’s consumer world, we helped Farmyard put the way people think about gourmet grub on ice, serving up an electric personality to dish out their 3 AA Rosette quality food, and an exciting way for people to discover refined food with attitude.
Brand strategy eCommerce UX Visual identity Web design Web development
Food & drink
Norwich UK
Farmyard comes from good stock. The Farmyard restaurant was founded in 2017 when Chef Patron Andrew Jones moved back to Norfolk after working in high-end London restaurants for Michelin-starred chefs. Along with his business partner, Hannah Jones, Andrew’s aim was to create a restaurant that changes the perception of fine dining in his home city of Norwich.
Celebrating local produce from the ‘fine city’ is at the heart of Farmyard and is how the relationship started with UnitedUs. Underpinned by a connection to the East Anglian hub through his time at Norwich University of the Arts, our Founder & Creative Partner, Luke Taylor aligned with Andrew and Hannah’s vision to showcase what Norwich has to offer, and take it all over the UK – head chefs of their own enterprises, collaborating through creativity to launch an exciting new brand identity.
With Farmyard’s growing reputation as a destination for fine dining, the business wanted to switch on the light to welcome a new wave of foodie consumers, whose busy lives and remote locations needn’t impact their ability to access great quality food that comes fully prepped. This approach to no-fuss fine dining, where the Farmyard’s food is frozen and delivered to customers to simply heat up, allows locally sourced, locally cooked meals to be enjoyed anywhere in the UK. But to change mindset around what fine food means, and to grab the attention of younger foodies who are used to the neons of trendy street-side eateries, we brought an electric attitude.
We didn’t know what we’d got wrong with our brand in terms of the look and the way we were selling ourselves until we met Luke at UnitedUs. We also didn’t really know why we’d need a creative branding agency to help us. Now we wish we’d met Luke right at the start of our business launch.
Hannah Jones
The visual identity intentionally juxtaposed the traditional bucolic imagery conjured by the Farmyard brand name, and instead positioned a prominent pink logo, evoking the bright neon lights of trendy eating spots in vibrant cities and the Farmyard restaurant itself. This edgy brand mark, underscored with a knife sketch, provides a youthful identity to enliven the branding of traditional freezer foods and stuffy connoisseurs, instead it serves up an attitude as direct as the delivery service it offers.
Typographical combinations are an important element of the brand throughout each touchpoint, from tangible packaging to digital interactions. ‘Refined food with attitude’ is emblazoned across the top of the online store in a mix of classy serif font, nodding to traditional restaurant menus, juxtaposed with an emphatic thick marker pen style, bringing the energy of a chef during kitchen service.
Building on the brand language of the visual identity, verbal executions provide a direct, tongue-in-cheek display of what the brand stands for, with ‘frozen never looked so hot’ as a headline message. Custom graphics for food bundles for specific audiences including new parents and people on weekends away presents expressive copy, such as ‘banging grub for baby makers’ and ‘boss it in someone else’s kitchen’, coupling a bold visual and verbal personality across brand assets.
I could not recommend UnitedUs more highly and we are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with Luke and the amazing team at UnitedUs. UnitedUs have over-delivered on this project the whole way through and we’re so excited for the future of Farmyard as a result.
Hannah Jones
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