Wifey with a Knifey

Client

Private client, British Columbia

The problem

She came to me with a dream business and not much else. No name, no concept, no look — just a goal and a lot of enthusiasm for it. So this started further back than most branding jobs do: not 'here's our business, make it look good', but 'here's an idea, help me find out what it is'.

What I made

The name first. 'Wifey with a Knifey' came out of a sign-off she used on notes she left her husband, and it was too good not to build a business on. The phrase borders on sinister just long enough to make you look twice before you land on what it actually means — which is exactly the kind of hook a food truck needs. From there, everything. Concept, wordmark, primary logo and variations, submarks and decals, colour palette, type system, character illustration, signage graphics, menus and table tents, merch, business cards, and a full brand style guide to hold it together. She was in the room for a lot of the brainstorming — this was built with her, not handed to her. The aesthetic leans on 1960s pin-up, mom's home cooking and Rosie the Riveter, aiming at summertime street food by the beach. The owner had the personality to be her own mascot, so that's what she became.

Images

The outcome

A complete, launch-ready identity: every asset she'd need to open the doors, from the sign on the truck down to the business card. What it really demonstrates is the part that happens before any design — naming, positioning, and turning a half-formed idea into something with a personality you can build on. Everyone who sees it says the same thing: it looks like a business that should exist.