#NewBrandMonday: 4 January

Gourmend Foods

The focus placed by food brands on the varying dietary requirements and needs of customers has led to a proliferation of products catering for specific audiences. For one man, low-Fodmap foods meant more options and a more enjoyable eating experience. Bringing that concept to a wider audience, Ketan Vakil has launched Gourmend Foods. The brand offers low-Fodmap ingredients, recipes and information about a low-Fodmap diet. The packaging is designed to stand alongside high-end, free-from products with a clean, almost-Scandinavian design full of white space. The brand’s purpose of fostering understanding of low-Fodmap diets and ingredients is reflected in the transparent elements in the packaging, allowing the ingredients themselves to shine. “The informational campaign being championed by Gourmend reflects its commitment to helping others best live with Fodmap sensitivity,” says Laura Manning, who co-wrote the Fodmap-specific content on the Gourmend website. “These resources are invaluable to the countless individuals who experience digestive issues, many of whom have self-diagnosed themselves with other ailments and proactively research solutions to alleviate their ongoing distress.”

Reverb by Hard Rock

International hospitality brand Hard Rock has launched a new format for experience-driven hotels. The Reverb brand includes enhanced social and common spaces, designed to foster connections between guests. Co-working space, grab-and-go food and smart rooms are only some of the new amenities on offer, uniting Hard Rock’s music and entertainment authority with the needs of the modern traveller. “Our guiding principle when ideating around Reverb was fostering social connections and providing a multitude of spaces for our diverse range of guests to express themselves and their passions for creativity and exploration,” says Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock International. “Through our extensive research, we understand the modern traveler is hungry for opportunities to connect with new people and encounter a melting pot of cultures and experiences. To meet those aspirations, we crafted a unique hotel brand that is the ultimate sanctuary for the dynamic needs of today’s travellers, but also has a clear Hard Rock feel to it through music.” The first Reverb hotel is based in downtown Atlanta with a Sonoma County, California location to come.

Tiny Gods

Minimalism and disruption have defined the modern jewellery market, challenging perceptions of luxury along the way. Jeweller Mary Margaret Beaver launched Tiny Gods, a luxury brand designed to imbue each piece with a sense of character and narrative. Brooklyn-based brand studio Mucca developed the visual identity for the new line. The elegant website design is complemented by a geometric visual language that delivers personality in the wordmark while also evoking a notion of the cut and chemistry of the gemstones often used in luxury jewellery. “The name captures not only the spirit of what Mary Margaret was offering, but also how jewellery makes its wearers feel,” says Mucca’s design director Andrea Brown. “We applied this thinking throughout the entire brand, striking a balance between elegant luxury and something a little more ‘badass.’ Her collection is diverse with unusual pieces that are still very extravagant. Everything about the brand needed to be romantic without being sappy, and high-end without being stuffy.”