Long have granola bars been a recurring character in the role of a healthy snack in lunch boxes, vending machines, convenience stores, coffee bars and in the grocery store checkout lane. But recently, granola bars have taken a lot of flack for being, in a lot of cases as high in sugar, fat, salt, additives and preservatives as the candy bars they were replacing.

Enter Kind, an all-natural bar with ingredients you can see and pronounce that not only tastes good, but is good for you. I like Kind bars, and while I admire the fact they can show their product confidently through a clear package, I knew there was a package more, well, kind.

Be that as it may, Kind’s nothing-to-hide ideology manifests itself in short ingredient lists and clear packaging. Kind uses modern science to make a granola bar the right way, with ingredients that can be seen and pronounced—you know, the way it used to be made.

Kind's customer:

• 18-35, Millennials
• Urban
• Active
• Student/busy professional
• Health-conscious
• Seeking something than the candy bar/bag-of-chips snack

Philosophy:

• Nothing to hide. Ingredients you can see & pronounce.
• No additives or preservatives
• Candy bar replacement.
• A granola bar that is actually healthy and not just a candy bar in health-food clothes.
• “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants” —Michael Pollan

Slogan:

• A snack that tastes good and is good for you. Just enough to keep you going, but won’t slow you down. Be kind to yourself!

Kind is:

• Mindful
• Engaged
• Different
• Strong
• Convenient
• Positive
• World-Wise
• Encouraging
• Energetic
• Outgoing
• Empathetic

Kind is not:

• Holier than thou
• Aloof
• Derogatory
• Macho
• Cumbersom
• Negative
• Pretentious
• Patronizing
• Sales-y
• Tacky
• Wimpy

There were also a few opportunities to do something better.

The straight lines and all-caps typography is better suited to a box of Wintel software than it is for a tasty, healthy snack. First, I sought to give the emotionally-charged word 'Kind' a makeover befitting of kindness, warmth and personability.

First, Kind's massive and ever-expanding range of flavors and categories was disjointed, complicating the split-second decision making process of choosing a snack on the go. Even the most health-conscious consumers make their snack choices based on flavors. Underscoring Kind's integrity, I lettered the logotype by hand, and paired it with illustrations insipired by fruit crate labels and tattoos.

Thanks for stopping by!