The archive · Design & Visual · Product decision · 2024
Matheson Food Company's 1930s-style plain packaging makes basic staples the brand
Wedge dressed Matty Matheson's pantry staples in pragmatic 1930s canned codes and primary colours, so the line stands apart by staying basic.
Matheson Food Company
What it had to solve
Matheson Food Company is a straightforward line of everyday pantry staples by chef Matty Matheson, a New York Times best-selling author and Emmy-winning producer of The Bear. The brand was positioned as pragmatic and bold - nothing fancy or trendy - and studio Wedge had to make that plainness carry a whole range of products.
How it works
Matheson Food Company is a straightforward line of everyday pantry staples from chef Matty Matheson - a New York Times best-selling author and Emmy-winning producer of The Bear. Its founding position was pragmatic and bold: nothing fancy, nothing trendy.
The task for design studio Wedge was to make that plainness tangible across the range. The studio leaned into the canned codes of the 1930s, when products were what they said they were, and used primary colours drawn from the vernacular of American convenience foods and classics such as Heinz and Kraft.
The result is packaging that looks almost old-fashioned on purpose. Instead of celebrity gloss or foodie trend signals, the line speaks through the visual language of the everyday staples it contains - and that restraint is the point.
The work was kept in D&AD's awards archive, where the entry's argument is that the brand stands apart by staying true to basics. The range itself launched in 2024.
Why it lands
- The 1930s reference gives the brand a ready-made honesty code: canned staples of that era said what they were, so the design inherits trust instead of fighting for attention.
- Primary colours drawn from Heinz and Kraft classics make the line read as familiar American convenience food at a glance, even to buyers who have never heard of Matty Matheson.
- Refusing trend signals makes the plainness memorable: in a category where every launch shouts, the brand's restraint becomes its hook.
- Keeping the celebrity in the background (author, producer, chef) lets the products, not the personality, carry the shelf story.
What it did
Restraint became the differentiation: the D&AD entry argues that Matheson Food Company stands apart by staying true to the basics, and the work was kept in the awards archive. The range launched in 2024.
What you can take
When a category shouts, quiet can be the boldest move: borrowing an era when products were what they said they were gives a celebrity brand a credibility trends cannot buy.
Since then
The range launched in 2024 with its deliberately plain identity, and D&AD kept the work in its awards archive, crediting Wedge as entrant and design agency and Our House Hospitality as client. The entry records the design rationale - standing apart by staying true to the basics - but no sales or distribution figures.
Sources
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe the brief you are staring at, and see who has been given the same problem.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card