2026
Design Summer Program
Participated in a design summer program where I developed my own brand from the ground up, studying the techniques and processes behind creating a product and delivering it as a complete brand. I researched my audience and market, defined the brand's identity and message, and designed a cohesive visual system that carried through every touchpoint.
Overview
Prompt
Create a food brand that incorporates a bug element, then build a complete brand identity that markets it successfully. Your goal is to make something people find appetizing, memorable, and ready to sell, even though insects are involved.
Problem
The Challenge
Many people hesitate to eat or buy anything bug-related. The brand needs to turn that hesitation into curiosity and craving through smart concept, strategy, and design.
Branding Ideation
Mission Statement
Umushi is a bug-based, nature-forward furikake brand that reimagines Japan's beloved rice seasoning as a protein-rich, flavor-first staple for the modern table. By pairing sustainable insects like sago grub, grasshopper, and cricket with the comfort of classic furikake, Umushi gives people an approachable reason to try an ingredient they've never been given a reason to try.
Inspiration
Umushi is a name built from two ideas fused into one: umami, the savory depth at the heart of the product itself, and mushi, a nod to the bug motif running through the brand’s visual identity.
Logo Development
From the early stages of logo development I explored a wide range of forms, all searching for the right way to combine the two ideas at the heart of the brand: umami and mushi. Some versions leaned too heavily on the leaf alone, losing the mascot’s personality; others crowded the grass-hopper, leaf, and container together until the mark felt too busy to read at a small scale.
Refinement
The version that stuck was simple: a grasshopper nestled inside an onigiri, eating a shiso leaf. The onigiri shape grounds the mark in the product itself, the shiso leaf ties directly to the seasoning’s flavor, and the grasshopper adds the charm and character the brand needed, playful without losing credibility.
Logo Variations
The logo includes a wordmark-only version in green and white, plus full-color and black-and-white variations of the mascot logo for use across different backgrounds.
Business Stationary
Brand Collateral
Business Cards
Umushi’s business card follows the standard horizontal business card format, measuring 2 inches in height and 3.5 inches in width. The design adopts a clean, minimalist layout that reflects the brand’s modern identity while using the primary green and white color palette to create strong contrast.
Decorative line and dot elements inspired by furikake flakes are placed around the card, adding movement and reinforcing the product concept without overwhelming the minimalist design
Envelope
Final Product Design
Packaging Mock
Dieline
Final Packaging
Made from reclaimed and recycled paper.
The pointed, leaf-like shape reduces excess material at the edges compared to a standard box.
Each furikake pack will be re-sealable.
Reflection
What I Learned
Creating Umushi taught me that good branding is about more than making something look good. It is about changing how people feel. Insects can trigger hesitation, so every decision had to ease that "ick factor" and replace it with curiosity and appetite. Anchoring the brand in furikake, a seasoning people already know and love, showed me how familiarity can make something unfamiliar feel approachable.
