Creech’s brand for Seremoni is a whole other kettle (and quality) of fish

If there’s one thing that’s most important to the team at Creech, it’s creating a simple creative platform for all of its projects. This approach was no exception when it came to the creative studio’s new identity for the industry-challenging fishing brand, Seremoni. “Ideally, we get that platform down to just a few words,” says co-creative director Griffin Creech, “for Seremoni, our brand platform is ‘Beautiful Fish’.”

Seremoni, which fishes across the USA, has positioned itself as the best-of-the-best for quality fish, proposing a new grade above sushi-grade – Seremoni-grade. It follows the Japanese ‘Ike Jime’ method of harvesting fish; traditional and artisan, the humane approach – uncommon across the Western world – minimises the fish’s stress, improving its flavour and quality. To champion this uniqueness and bring awareness to the methodology, Creech approached the brand’s design with quality and sustainability as its cornerstones, signalling the benefits of its taste and lack of waste.

The identity carefully balances an emotional and rigorous feel. Charming illustrations and tactile print finishes encourage a warm tone that embodies the brand’s flavour and fervour, alongside a rational typographic approach that highlights the expertise behind the enterprise – albeit with a human touch. “The headline serif, Gangster by Store Norske Skriftkompani, offers a modern take on humanist fonts,” co-creative director Ashley Jones says, contrasting the typeface’s softer forms through the inclusion of Optimo’s Basel Grotesk as the secondary sans serif. “These choices contribute to the brand’s warm, intelligent feel,” she adds, avoiding a stark, startup aesthetic – a feat achieved further through the introduction of Aron Leah as the brand’s illustrator. 

You usually see serious drawings of fish,” Griffin says, the likes of detailed drawings or woodcut illustrations. “While we love those kinds of things, it felt a bit expected, and we tend to look for moments where we can bring something playful into a brand,” he continues. “We’re also suckers for (and students of) old-school advertising and design,” Griffin says, loving the opportunity for a good mascot. “There’s actually a long tradition of mascots in fish – mostly for canned tuna.”

Seremoni’s illustrations are carefully utilised across the brand, never falling into overabundance whilst appearing enough to act as a friendly and informative voice. This is particularly apparent through Creech’s packaging design, such as the Seremoni-grade silver foil stand, which perfectly encapsulates the brand’s tonal balance, as well as its consideration for physicality. “We wanted to really pop on the shelf and also communicate quality and inspire trust. Again, it’s all about ‘Beautiful Fish’ and that underlying sense of reverence,” Ashley says, drawing on patterns and hues from the fishes themselves and feeding them into the design system. “We noticed some brands tended to put a belly band directly over the fish,” Ashley ends, “we wanted customers to be able to pick up one of our trays and be able to see the quality of the fillets.”