Heinz Ketchup Logo Redesign

Heinz is a globally famous brand, best known for its iconic ketchup, which has been a staple in households for over a century. Over the years, the brand has built a reputation based on quality, simplicity, and taste. Heinz Ketchup has become the world's best-selling ketchup due to its reliability and consistency in the food industry.

The goal of this project focused on redesigning a logo for a brand that represents something completely opposite to my personal beliefs and preferences. The challenge was to set aside my own biases and create a fresh visual identity that connects with the brand’s current audience.

The Heinz and Heinz Ketchup logo was redesigned in 2020 by Jones Knowles Richie. Heinz is an American food processing company, and operates as part of the Kraft Heinz Company. The original logo features the wordmark “Heinz” in bold uppercase letters using the “Heinz Label” typeface, created by Jones Knowles Richie. The wordmark is set in a keystone shape, that has been a consistent identifier for the brand. The color palette consists of reds, greens, whites, and golds, representing the product’s ingredients. The overall design is simple and modern, while still maintaining its brand identity.

I conducted research into some of the major competitor brands to better understand the visual strategies used in other logos on the market. Brands like Hunt’s, French’s, and Sir Kensington’s each have distinct designs and styling that represent their brands identity.

I explored a variety of tomato illustrations, graphics, and logo designs to gather inspiration. This helped me identify key visual elements, such as vibrant red tones and round shapes, that effectively convey the appeal of tomatoes.

After completing my research, I began sketching out some rough concepts using Procreate. I experimented with hand-drawn letterforms and different layouts to create a modern, approachable feel. My sketches make use of tomato imagery combined with the text itself.

Building on my initial sketches, I moved the designs into Illustrator, where I refined the typography and tomato imagery. In these iterations, I experimented with bold, rounded typefaces and varying the placement of the tomato icon. Here I was able to fine-tune the designs, ensuring the logo remained visually strong and represented the brands heritage.

I focused on using bold reds and greens to emphasize the tomato imagery and align with Heinz original brand colours.

The final redesigned logo for Heinz Ketchup is bold and modern while still maintaining the brands recognizable elements. The logo features Heinz signature red and green colours to help reflect the brand’s identity while giving it a fresh and playful look. The curved shape surrounding the logo creates a modern take on the original keystone shape. The logo can be used both vertically and horizontally.

This project challenged me to set aside my personal biases and design a logo that differs from my own preferences. Despite my distaste for tomatoes, I approached the task with an open mind, aiming to create a fresh, engaging logo that aligns with the brand’s identity. This project tought me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone and strengthened my ability to create solutions that resonate with users, even when they differ from my own preferences.