Local production kitchen
Brand & INTERIOR DESIGN
Good food,
made safely.
When my organization planned and built their state-of-the-art food production facility from the ground up, I was tasked by leadership to lend the new facility visual warmth, Amazonian-ness, and celebration of the associates working there, as well as the quality food they so carefully produce. Food production facilities, alas, are not the picturesque kitchen environments that we may envision when we imagine how our favorite fresh prepared foods are made. With very good reason, the environment where food is prepared must be easily and frequently cleaned (read: steril), cold, to keep food as fresh as possible, and free of any extraneous items that will risk the safety of the food and the people making it. As such, my challenge was to find opportunities to create meaningful moments of recognition and connection for facility employees while maintaining and emphasizing the importance of the high level of safety and cleanliness required.
Brand Development
In an effort to remain true to Amazon culture, my copywriter and I advocated for an acronym that would create a memorable and easily expanded nomenclature, and thus, LPK1 (Local Production Kitchen One) was born.
The identity for this facility needed to adhere to the Amazon parent brand’s guidance, meaning color, typography, and use of iconography would be limited to the core brand toolkit. The visual language is intentionally utilitarian and spare in nature (while remaining flexible) for ease of use and to underscore the importance of safety and quality at the core of the brand and facility.
Interior Design
The primary audience for this facility is the group of employees who go there every day to produce top notch food. Secondarily, the interior needed to impart professionalism, trustworthy-ness and safety to all visitors, including channel partners and potential vendors and customers.
With this in mind, different spaces celebrated the employees and the value of the work they do, in different ways. The entry way immediately grounds and reminds guests and associates alike, why they are there: to help Simplify Eating Well. Paired with this mission is an immersive, life-sized mural spanning the main hallway celebrating the many tasks that lead to a most excellent output: good food.
The Break Room, in contrast, featured a mural specifically aimed at celebrating the region and its food-related bounty, while also incorporating some fun (in the form of a ‘Squatch). This “monster” theme played out throughout the building (the facility is located on Monster Road), using monsters and creatures from our region as room names, which added in some Amazonian eccentricity.
Employee Swag
With the cold working environment in mind, quality fleeces, vests, socks, and thermal mugs are a part of every new employee’s welcome kit. Each item was chosen with intention and investment to underscore leadership’s support and celebration of their employees comfort and success in LPK1.
