In today’s episode of ‘Can They Brand That?®’ we’re tagging in our designer! He visually brought to life 2 fake brands we whipped up on our show and is revealing them to us for the first time! Join us in the comments as we see the design reveals for Chip Dust (snack innovation) and Lefty Lucy (a new, sexy WD-40 competitor) for the first time!
A follow-up to the original live-streamed ideation session, this episode features Semiserious Agency’s lead designer revealing the brand identity—including hand-drawn package labels, colors, typography, patterns, iconography, and staged mockups—to the Semiserious founders. You can expect to see a ton of laughter and a genius design strategy that brings to life the ridiculous original concept.
Join us every Wednesday @ 12p CT for a new one, btw!!!! Hosted by: Allie LeFevere and Lyndsay Rush Sanders
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to Can They Brand That? and today’s brand design reveals: Chip Dust & Lefty Lucy
07:02 Industry Critique: The Chicago airport billboard ad campaigns using AI-generated slogan copy
15:25 Design Reveal for Chip Dust (brand identity, logo, mascot, label, illustration, brand lore, storytelling, patterns, typographic lockups, and other hilarious branding details)
44:02 Design Reveal for Lefty Lucy (brand identity, logo, mascot, label, illustration, brand lore, storytelling, patterns, typographic lockups, and other hilarious branding details)
01:07:48 Branding Game: Fund, Marry, Kill
Key Branding Ideas from This Episode:
- The power of visual storytelling emerges when brands embrace exaggerated, playful aesthetics.
- Bold, unconventional visuals can transform mundane or seemingly absurd ideas into memorable, impactful brands that stand out on the shelf.
- Adopting a fearless approach to design and branding unlocks deeper consumer engagement and shifts perception from utilitarian to desirable.
- Rhyme and jingle are subconscious tools that reveal a brand’s personality and influence consumer recall.
- When brands lean into rhymes or musical elements, they tap into cognitive shortcuts that make products more sticky and seem more approachable.
- The most successful brands reframe waste or throwaway materials into premium, playful products through a shift in narrative.
- Creative constraints fuel innovation by forcing brands to find new relationships between ideas and visuals.
- Limiting parameters, like time, scope, or product categories, push brands into more inventive solutions that often lead to more compelling, refined identities.
- Constraints are not limitations but catalysts for ingenuity, enabling brands to surprise and delight within boundaries that foster clarity and focus.
- Nostalgia combined with irreverence unlocks emotional connection and cultural relevance.
- Nostalgia acts as a shortcut for familiarity, but when paired with humor and subversion, it enhances longevity and social currency.
- The act of creating and sharing visual identities is a collective ritual that enhances brand ownership and enthusiasm.
- Participatory design and viral-like sharing, like revealing concepts live or engaging audiences with brand ideas, build a sense of community and co-creation.
- Keeping a flexible, iterative mindset allows brands to evolve organically without losing core identity.
- Building in space for iteration and multiple visual directions prevents premature closure on ideas and nurtures innovation.
Semiserious is a female-founded humor branding agency for CPG brands. Their sweet spot is working with founder-led or venture-backed DTC startups to build brands using comedy as a core strategy to help brands stand out in a crowded market. Their roster includes industry darlings like Clif Bar, Native, Blue Bunny, Waterboy, Pie, Argent, JOI, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Yogi Tea, Choice Organics, GEN Z, The University of Chicago, Alleyoop, Better Than Booze, Backwoods, Bad Rabbit, U Suck at Golf, Hobbyist, and the Dallas Cowboys, but they would never brag about it in their bio. This funny branding agency has offices in Chicago and Nashville, but works with clients globally.
Say hi or snoop around:
🔔 Subscribe for weekly branding brainstorms → https://www.youtube.com/@semiseriousagency
📺 Watch the full Can They Brand That? show series → https://bit.ly/can-they-brand-that-playlist
🌐 Work with Semiserious: https://semiseriousagency.com/
ICYMI, this show exists 1) to champion originality and creativity in a sea of AI slop, 2) to show potential clients the power and value of fun as a consumer-converting strategy, and 3) to bring some much-needed levity into the world where we can.
#HumorBranding #HardwareBrandStrategy #BrandReveal #PackageDesign #CPGBranding #FunnyBrands #BrandIdentity #SnackBrand #FoodBrandMarketing #SemiseriousAgency
