ENIAS

OVERVIEW

ENIAS is a gourmet food brand that brings quality ingredients from the Mediterranean to New York City and beyond.

As a start-up, finding the right identity and branding can be challenging. The goal with ENIAS was to create a look that’s luxurious, authentic, and clean just like the goods they sell.

ROLE

Product Designer
Graphic Design, Visual Design, Branding/Identity, Product Strategy, Typography

June 2020 - Oct. 2021

Background

ENIAS is a family-owned and operated company based in New York City that sells organic foods grown on the Mediterranean coast of Africa. Currently, ENIAS only sells olive oil, but is expanding their products to jams, dates, and vanilla extract. 

I created the first brand guideline.

I joined ENIAS in 2019 when the start-up was only two other people. I was hired as a freelancer to create product labels, however, my role quickly expanded into everything from branding to content creation and web design.

I’ve highlighted some of the key achievements below.

• Designed brand guidelines. This alowed us to hone our visual identity and direct focus toward differentiating ourselves from others in the market. 

• Created countless product labels. During my time at ENIAS, high demand forced me to expand my technical skillset through constant practice and collaboration the founder.

• Developed wireframes and design modules for the website. I worked closely with a web developer to build a website that included scalable templates, UI/UX design solutions, and an overall visually-appealing aesthetic. 

Branding / Identity

When I was first hired by ENIAS, I was responsible for creating a product label for their olive oil. I had little experience but a lot of confidence and dove right into the challenge. After only one day, I had five new design ready to present.

After that first day, I realized there was a lack of consistency throughout the brand’s design, voice, and identity. I took it upon myself to work with the founder to create the company’s first brand guidelines. This proved to be a much bigger challenge than I thought, but in the end, we made something that was elegant, simple, and timeless. I’ve inlcuding some key pages from the brand guidelines above and I’d be happy to share the full deck upon request.

Some important aspects that we wanted to come through in the branding were:

• Quality over quantity. The olives that we use are grown on an estate owned by the founder’s family. They’re organic and single-sourced, so it’s easy to assure the quality of our product. 

• Mediterranean. Originating from Tunisia, the brand’s identity is deeply intertwined with the Mediterranean lifestyle.
  

• Simplicity. Our products are made to the highest standard; they’re natural, organic, and clean.

Product Design

Digital: During my time at ENIAS, I was also charged with the project of designing the website. I was the sole designer on the project and collaborated with a front-end engineer to complete the vision and solve any UX/UI design problems. I created everything from the wireframes to concepts to design modules.

Print: Since those first five labels, I’ve designed more than 50 custom product labels for ENIAS and private buyers. The majority of these labels have been for olive oil, but I’ve also created some concept art for the brand’s expansion into dates, jams, and vanilla extract. 

 

Key Takeaways

I see my time at ENIAS as the perfect stepping stone along the path of my professional career. It allowed me to take what I learned in school and apply it in a tangible way. There was so much in this job that I had to learn by myself, which made me a stronger, more well-rounded designer in the end. 

A few skills that I gained from this experience were:

• Branding: Building an entire brand guideline forced me to dig deeper into brand identity and visual design. 

• Web Design: Before ENIAS, I had worked on websites before, but never by myself. Owning the entire process allowed me to take control and, in turn, allowed me to grow as a project leader.