Two founders, one idea, no agency yet.
In 2019, Steffen Janzen and Clint Omelaniec had an idea. Bring filmmakers, photographers, food stylists, culinary professionals and marketers under one roof, and make food and beverage content easier to get right. There was a name, Picnic, and a vision to match: a purpose-built studio in Vancouver, and a boutique agency in demand well beyond it. There was no brand yet. I worked side by side with Steffen and Clint to turn the idea into an agency people could see, hire and trust.
A studio built for other people's brands.
A creative studio has an odd brief. Its own brand has to hold its ground, then step back so the client's work can lead. Picnic's work would be cheese one day and cocktails the next, and every product would bring its own colours. A loud identity would fight the work. A quiet one would disappear. It had to feel established from day one, with nothing yet built behind it, and still fit the agency it planned to become.
The name already held the answer.
Read the name slowly. PIC, then NIC. The first half is the picture. So the mark became a window. PIC sits knocked out of a solid frame, NIC stands open beside it, and whatever goes behind the frame shows through. Food photography, a client's colour, a single plate. The logo doesn't compete with the image. It holds it. The mission followed the same line, in four words. Telling the story of food.
One frame, room for every flavour.
The wordmark is set in light, widely tracked Gotham. A clean, strong form with fine detail inside it. The guidelines kept the rules short. The logo only changes colour, and only for contrast. A deep navy anchors a fresh palette of pale blue, teal, warm yellow and red, and colours outside it are welcome when a food product calls for them. From there the system rolled out across collateral and the launch website, ready for a studio that was still being built.
Still framing the story of food.
Picnic grew into what the founders sketched. A purpose-built studio in Burnaby, a team in Calgary, and work for brands like Calgary Co-op, Daiya and SmartSweets. The services have widened from production into strategy and campaigns. The window hasn't moved. The same mark leads the agency today, and the 2019 mission now sits on the home page as We tell the story of food. Build a brand around what the business actually does, and it keeps pace as the business grows.
Questions
How do you brand a creative agency?
Let its own brand hold its ground, then step back so client work can lead. For Picnic Creative, a food and beverage agency, the mark became a window: PIC sits knocked out of a solid frame, NIC stands open beside it, and whatever goes behind the frame shows through.
Who designed the Picnic Creative logo?
Aaron Armstrong of Serif + Gold, working side by side with founders Steffen Janzen and Clint Omelaniec in 2019. The work covered brand identity, logo system, colour and type, brand guidelines, collateral and the launch website.
Does a brand identity built at launch still work years later?
Picnic's does. The same mark leads the agency today, and the 2019 mission now sits on its home page as We tell the story of food. Build a brand around what the business actually does, and it keeps pace as the business grows.
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