Self Studio creates branding and product design for a new plant-based delivery service

London-based design and film studio, Self Studio, created the brand identity and product design for Holy, a new vegan meals subscription and delivery service.

Brainchild of entrepreneur Vsevolod Zasorin, Holy is a new type of service aimed at those who want to eat healthy, environmentally conscious food without sacrificing taste and enjoyment. Self Studio was commissioned to create a distinct positioning, name, and visual identity for Holy, alongside a website where customers can create their own bespoke vegan meal plans based on their personal nutritional requirements.

Working with Holy’s team, Self Studio conducted competitor research and sector insights which showed that younger audiences interested in veganism are turned off by the seriousness and at times self-righteous tone associated with vegan diets. To counter this, Self Studio developed a strategic positioning that aims to unite the brand’s scientific message with a joyful irreverence to cut through with existing and new vegan audiences.

“The brand positioning balances the inherent idealism of veganism with a touch of confident self- awareness. The slight irreverence evoked within the name Holy, informed the creative direction on language and visual identity, opening rich creative tensions between the sacred, the scientific and the playful, both visually and verbally” says creative director and co-founder of Self Studio, Ivan Gostev.

Self Studio chose the halo symbol as the logo because it reflects the name but at the same time is not religiously offensive in any way. “It was an original design idea - this came as a bit of a shock, I suppose no one wanted to mess with the sacred. It was a good bit of luck,” says Gostev.

The rich colour palette was chosen to combine the joy and hedonism of food with the scientific core of the brand and its approach to nutrition.

The website was designed to have two key functions simultaneously. On one hand it empowers users to customise their meal plans based on individual health needs. On the other, it enables the Holy team to schedule production, manage kitchens and cooking, and packaging and deliveries, explains Michael Gostev, head of product and co-founder at Self.