Boudin Sourdough
175 Year Old Dough and a Lasting Legacy
A lasting legacy of 175-year old dough. In 1849, the Boudin family struck culinary gold. Wild yeasts in the San Francisco air imparted a unique tang to their traditional French bread, giving rise to the world renowned “San Francisco sourdough.”
Refreshing a 175-year old cultural icon, with a rich and successful heritage, was right in our wheelhouse. With so much to draw on historically, and an uber recognizable image to begin with, our work honored the past while creating a flexible system that would work for the future. Collaborating with creative partner A+A, we developed a comprehensive design program that addressed the evolving needs of both the corporate and retail brands as the business expanded into new locations and markets.
Project
Boudin Corporate Rebrand
Industry
Consumer Retail
Services
Brand Strategy
Brand Architecture
Brand Identity
Brand Extension
Content Development
Information Design
Environmental Graphics
Creative Partner
A+A
Home of its original 175-year old “mother dough” and flagship of Boudin brand. Throughout, RLD incorporated large exterior and interior marquee signage with environmental graphics to introduce and direct customers to this destination location.
The original Boudin sourdough logo was created in 1974 by San Francisco designer, Primo Angelli. Our challenge was to refresh his iconic mark along with an identity system that would support Boudin’s resurgence into its newly redesigned retail locations. As part of the rebrand, we introduced a new “BOUDIN” logotype to the family of brands to support the expanding organization’s business ambitions.
[↑] Channeling the spirit of their French founders, we found inspiration in the typography of cafe signs and products of old Paris.
In 1849, the Boudin family struck culinary gold.
There was a certain kind of magic in San Francisco’s early days with the cacophony of hand painted signs, horse drawn carts, and rustic brick, wood and stone buildings. Boudin’s roots run so deep into this time and place that a historical timeline was commissioned chronicling five generations of family members over its 175-year legacy.
[↑] Exterior signage has evolved to include use of the new BOUDIN logo locked to the refined Sourdough mark.
Pictured here, a detail of one of Boudin’s retail locations and below, signage from their flagship location at Fisherman’s Wharf.
[↓] Detailed corporate guidelines were created to document logo usage and program standards, ensuring the brand will be effectively managed over the coming years.
Behind every powerful brand is an even more powerful story.
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