KING'S HEAD
Packaging / Identity / Naming
Strategy / Copywriting
King's Head celebrates the legendary history
of cheese, rife with culture, revolutionary action, and 'beyond the cheeseboard' innovation.
At the heart of every legend, there is someone craving cheese. From the French Revolution, to riots in England, to naval battles in the Atlantic Ocean, cheese is tied to some of this world’s most legendary conflicts. Though it now often accompanies a splash of wine, it once accompanied a splash of blood and was far from the refined, elegant foodstuff we perceive it as today.
ORIGINS
Cheese has culture, in more ways than one.
King’s Head wants to return the product to the hands of those who inspired its greatest moments - the revolutionaries.
Whether it is a die-hard Patriots fan refusing to follow Brady to the Buccaneers, college students trying to create a start-up from their dorm room or a non-profit feeding protestors in the streets, we believe that cheese fuels radical determination, revolutionary action, and beyond-the-cheeseboard innovation.
The King is dead, long live the Cheese! The name “King’s Head” refers to how King Louis XVI’s insatiable love for Brie cheese ended up with his demise at the blade of a guillotine. When fleeing France, despite knowing the danger he faced, the King decided to stop at an inn that was famous for its Brie. This allowed the revolutionaries to catch up and capture him, hauling him back to Paris.
STRATEGY
In developing a strategy, I studied how existing cheese brands present themselves and interact in this space.
Three key things stood out:
- Within a brand, cheese types are often color-coded.
- More often than not, gourmet cheese lacks a strong brand identity.
- There is often extensive text and little in the way of imagery on the package.
WHAT MAKES KING'S HEAD
REVOLUTIONARY, IS THE WAY IT COMMANDS AN UNRIVALED PRESENCE AMONGST ITS CONTEMPORARIES.
King's Head has a target audience of 30-somethings, skewing male. What do claims of ‘cave-ripened’ and ‘aged for 10 months’ mean to an audience more inclined to pop open a beer with their teeth than use a wine aerator? Thinking about our audience, key design decisions were made -- King’s Head has a cohesive color palette that stands out unflinchingly against the pastels and jewel tones of the cheese counter. Instead of a color system denoting cheese varieties, dynamic packaging shapes, reflecting both the natural geometry of cheese and the ‘geometry’ of historic cheese legends, works to identify the varieties within the brand. Finally, King’s Head combines energetic typesetting with compelling imagery to present a dynamic presence.
Cheese to cheer for!
Always spoiling for legendary moments, King's Head is the official cheese of the Green Bay Packers. Promotional marketing and advertising can be found around Lambeau Field and is embedded within Cheesehead merchandise.
