Banza Expo-West 2023 Merch
Illustration, Branding, Merch Launch
about
In 2023 we worked with Banza to help them create merch for their Expo-West team. Expo-West is the biggest natural food trade show in the United States. For their 2023 Booth, Banza wanted special merch for their team members to wear at the event along with Swag bags they could give away to fans, and potential distribution partners.
Banza is a pasta and frozen pizza food brand that creates all of their products with a Chickpea base so their products are gluten-free. The team for this merch set was what is your favorite pizza topping? To help them promote the new release of several different pizza SKU’s they were launching in national grocery stores.
We worked together with Banza to create a series of different design/illustration directions that they could use on different merch, and swag bag items.
Deliverables
Deliverables
•Merch Design & Apparel Design
•Custom Illustrations
•Apparel Printing / Job Management
Direction 1:
For the first direction, we went all out and personified each topping. Banza narrowed down the toppings they wanted to focus on to Team Anchovies, Team Pineapple, Team Olives, and Team Ranch due to the loyal following each topping has on pizza.
Following this concept, we created illustrations that personified the toppings and had them eat pizza in their own settings. Of the 5 directions we created, this was the most illustrative.
Direction 2:
For art direction 2, we went with a more minimalistic illustration style. The goal was to highlight the topping and clearly brand whoever was wearing the merch as a team member of the flavor represented on the shirt.
This way, when handing out merch, customers could share their pizza topping preferences and use it as a conversation starter at Expo-West. Banza wanted the merch they were handing out to become a tool for their team members and customers to start a conversation at the event.
Results
• Through these 2 merch releases Banza increased its brand awareness both on social media and at Expo-West.
• Over 3,000+ merch items were printed and sold to customers.
• Banza has now created regular limited edition merch drops that sell out within minutes of being announced online.
Direction 3:
For art direction 3, we broke down the illustrations from art direction 2 and created a seamless pattern that could be printed on shirts, sweaters, and tote bags.
Our goal for this art direction was to make the pattern become a statement piece that stuck out in the crowd of people at the tradeshow.
Badge Set
We also created an illustrated badge set that could be turned into stickers, pins, and patches. Using art direction 2, we simplified the designs further into badges that were multi-use in the application.
Summer Merch Set:
The designs we created for Expo-West were such a success that Banza wanted to create a limited edition T-shirt release for their customers. Released in June 2023, we created a set of badges and T-shirt designs that revolved around the idea of “Hot Italian Summer.”
Using Tony Soprano from the Sopranos TV as inspiration, we designed a set of graphics with a 90’s Pizzeria vibe to them. Over 1,000+ T-shirts were printed and sold to customers as a part of this limited edition merch drop.
