The Wifey with a Knifey mark branded into a wooden cutting board, the hand-lettered name filling a lime slice with the mascot stepping out of it, a lime wedge resting on the board
Work

Brand identity for a mobile food business that had to be seen before it could be tasted.

Client

Wifey with a Knifey

Sector

Mobile food service, BC interior

Year

2022

Scope

Brand identity, illustration, style guide, signage, packaging, merchandise

The problem

A new mobile food business launching into a crowded market. Working markets, fairs and local stops across the Okanagan and Kootenays, where the truck has to be recognised from across a field. Food trucks compete on visibility before anyone tastes the food.

The approach

The owner had the personality to be her own mascot, so I made her one. The name came from how she signed off lunch notes to her husband. It borders on sinister, which makes people look twice and then work out what the knife is actually for.

The system

Primary logo: the pin-up mascot with a raised knife, standing against a half lime carrying the Wifey with a Knifey lettering
The primary mark. She steps out of the lime rather than sitting inside it. The lime's triangles point inward toward Wifey. The whole mark sits inside an implied circle.
Submark: a chef's knife threaded through the word Wifey, a red lipstick mark on the blade, on a purple cabbage ground
Submark for small sizes. Knife through the lettering, lipstick on the blade.
One-colour version of the primary logo, mascot and lime rendered in solid black
One colour, for embroidery, engraving, and anything printed in a single hit.
Colour palette swatches labelled avocado, lime, purple cabbage, mango, sour cream and black beans
Every colour is pulled straight off the menu. Lime, purple cabbage, mango, black bean, sour cream.
Horizontal logo lockup showing the custom Wifey lettering above the word Knifey in heavy type
Custom lettering for the logotype. Raleway small caps for headers, Montserrat Alternates for body.
Hand-drawn pin-up character in a green polka-dot dress holding a kitchen knife
Drawn by hand, out of 1960s pin-up and comic books. She is the owner, turned into a mascot.

In application

  • Cart signage

  • Brand style guide. Opens to the whole book.

  • Table tents. Opens to the menu.

  • Service wear

  • Apparel

  • Winter apparel ad

  • Printed tees

  • Knitwear

  • Drinkware

Download the full brand style guide (PDF)11 MB

Status

The full system was delivered before the truck existed, which was the point. The owner made the call to hold the brand until financing for the cart came through, so the identity, packaging and menu system were built to sit finished until that day arrives. Nothing gets rebuilt when it does. 24-page guide, 50+ iterations, delivered in under a month.

Need a launch cut or a sound to go with it? That gets built here too. The sound

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