Gastropod
Podcast | Branding and Website Design
Gastropod is a podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history. It is for busy Gen Z and Millennials who enjoy learning about the hidden history or science behind food. The design challenge was to create a new visual system and website that could organize complex information.
Since it is a podcast, I enjoyed the opportunity to use my writing skills to create messaging that conveys the connection between food and science.
This is a personal project and is not affiliated with Gastropod.
The name of the podcast is unique because it has multiple meanings. I visualized the combination of these three elements and the topics discussed in the podcast to create the new logo.
Gastropod Name & Meaning
Gastronomy is grounded in relationships between food, culture, and tradition. Involves the study of nutrition with a variety of cultures.
Gastronomy
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Podcasts are digital audio content distributed over the internet using a podcast hosting service.
Podcasting
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Gastropods are a large taxonomic class of molluscs, commonly referred to as snails and slugs. The shell is often coiled or spiral shaped and can be simple or ornate.
Gastropod
The logo represents the organic spiral of gastropods shells, the gesture of mixing elements together and the letter “G”.
The form of the logo represents the science and food aspect of gastropod, while the type represents the historical aspect.
The color is inspired by the vibrant colors of food and the bubbles of molecular gastronomy.
Logo & Color
I enjoyed playing with language to create messaging that connected food, science and history.
Messaging
Tone: Conversational, Lighthearted
Theme: Restaurant and Food Related, Scientific
In billboards, the logo becomes a supergraphic to highlight the “G” and focus the attention of viewers to the messaging.
Social media provides a space to extend the brand language and highlight updates of podcast episodes, combined with macro and micro photography to visualize the depth of research Gastropod conducts for each episode.
Social Media
The website is flexible to accommodate recent episodes, episode transcripts, notes discussed and even recipes. Since Gastropod has a lot of content, I created a website that allows for easy navigation and clear hierarchy of information.
The messaging is also utilized on the website to make the online experience as playful and interesting as the conversations on the podcast itself. Each section on the website has a secondary title. For example, ‘latest episode’ is ‘fresh out the kitchen’ and ‘archive’ is ‘the pantry.’
Website
BEFORE
AFTER
Mobile Website
Merchandise
The paper rivet allows each person to collect new recipes and add on to their collection. Each recipe comes with a recommended episode that you can listen to as you cook.
For special events, poster promotions reference the form of a menu to communicate the unique experience of a live podcast recording.
At the end of the event, guests will leave with a special edition Gastropod approved wine.
