Kāpiti, a brand that sets the bar for cheese – proudly holding the title for New Zealand’s most awarded cheese company.

With such a distinguished pedigree, we set out crafting a new look for their range which felt proud, distinctive and lived up to the brand’s premium reputation.

Transforming the entire range to take on a dramatic black backdrop felt like a bold but necessary move. We wanted the range to not only come together, but make a statement. Kāpiti isn’t shy of big, bold flavours, and its packaging needed to follow with the same confidence.

Naturally, we drew inspiration from Kāpiti Island. With its rugged landscape and wilderness, the island became our dramatic muse. Hand illustrated patterns tell the story of the coast and terrain, symbolising the rich taste profiles of each of the cheeses, and a bold crop of the island’s silhouette creates a distinctly ownable shape. This island shape takes on beautiful, sophisticated yet naturally rich variant colours that stand out beautifully against the black background.

Typographically, we saw typeface as another opportunity to speak to the brand’s rich story of New Zealand excellence; through new pronounced letter spacing and angular motifs, all building on the beauty of the brand’s Te Reo naming of its cheese.

To celebrate the beautiful drama of the new Kāpiti look and feel, we have directed a stylised product shoot that incorporated elements of water, smoke and New Zealand native botanicals, all of which linked back to the meaning of the Te Reo cheese names.