Sprouties Brand Identity by Studio Matte is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Bronze A' Design Award in Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design Competition Category.
BronzeAdvertising· 2026
Sprouties Brand Identity
by Studio Matte
Client: Studio Matte
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Advertising Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #181183The Design
About Sprouties Brand Identity
Sprouties is a farm to cat grass brand, which has a delivery model centered on nutrient density and supply chain transparency. It is the first brand to offer fresh, gourmet cat grass in the Uae. Moving away from traditional pet industry cliches, the visual identity uses a Natural Luxury concept, blending deep greens with refined creams with a custom logotype. A cat icon is hidden in the i letter. The project centerpiece is its dual purpose packaging: a perforated structural sleeve that transforms into a minimalist decorative object for modern interiors once unboxed.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Sprouties Brand Identity is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Sprouties Brand Identity is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Sprouties Brand Identity splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Interviews
Grand Interview
The decision to embed a cat silhouette within the letterform of the Sprouties Brand Identity logotype is a quietly brilliant piece of visual storytelling that rewards attentive observers. Could you walk us through the creative reasoning behind this typographic choice, and how the team balanced the desire for a discoverable detail with the need for a clean, sophisticated custom logotype that does not feel visually overworked?
The creative reasoning was rooted in the psychology of the modern caregiver. Cat owners are inherently observant, appreciating subtlety over overt, loud messaging. We wanted a logotype that mirrored this characteristic: graceful, understated, and quietly present. By embedding the cat silhouette naturally within the letter "i," the detail is integrated into the anatomy of the word itself rather than being treated as an added decorative element.To prevent the custom letterforms from feeling overworked, we utilized softened, geometric curves and generous kerning. This clean baseline allows the hidden form to act as an organic extension of the line weight. The result is a visual "Easter egg" that anchors the brand's identity without disrupting typographic harmony.
One of the most compelling conversations in contemporary packaging design concerns the tension between premiumness and environmental responsibility, and the Sprouties Brand Identity navigates this with its recyclable cardstock sleeve. How did Studio Matte approach material selection to ensure that the commitment to sustainability did not compromise the tactile and visual experience of what is positioned as a luxury wellness product for discerning urban pet owners?
We approached this by challenging the industry assumption that "luxury" requires complex, non-recyclable materials, foils, or high-gloss coatings. For Sprouties, luxury is synonymous with purity and authenticity. We selected a high-grammage, sustainably sourced uncoated cardstock that possesses an inherent tactile warmth.The natural matte texture of the paper compliments the organic nature of the living grass. By utilizing rich, dense forest green inks and soft creams, the material absorbs color deeply, giving a premium weight and depth to the package. Sustainability became the design's strength: the raw, tactile feel of the paper communicates a premium tier far more effectively than artificial, synthetic finishes ever could.
The Sprouties Brand Identity directly confronts a genuine public health concern, namely the degraded nutritional value and mold risk of conventional retail pet grass caused by broken supply chains in markets like the UAE, and your research involved both supply chain analysis and veterinary collaboration. In what ways did those specific research findings actively shape design decisions in the identity and packaging system, rather than simply informing the brand narrative at a surface level?
The research was the structural architect of the entire packaging system. Discovering that stagnant retail environments cause mold growth and nutrient depletion meant we had to completely bypass traditional retail shelving through a direct-to-consumer farm-to-door model.Veterinary insights revealed that felines require specialized nutrients based on their health conditions, which led directly to the formulation of three distinct varieties: Barley, Wheat, and Oat grass. To communicate these medicinal properties clearly without looking clinical, we translated our research into a bespoke matrix of metaphorical icons. These symbols explicitly educate the caregiver on targeted functional benefits—such as hairball reduction or digestive pathways—making the packaging an educational tool rather than a mere retail container.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Sprouties is the UAE's first farm-to-cat hydroponic wellness system, delivering live, nutritious greens directly to consumers. It solves the problem of moldy, stagnant retail pet grass by offering fresh, specialized formulas. The identity features a Natural Luxury aesthetic with a custom logotype and a thoughtful packaging system. This innovative structure uses a perforated sleeve that transforms into a minimalist home decorative element, hiding the soil and tray.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Boxes are 17.2 x 12.3 x 21 cm.
Recyclable cardstock.
Pantone print system - Tags
- pet, cat, wellness, premium, natural, feline, grass
- Production Technology
- The design followed a Diverge and Converge methodology. During the Diverge phase, we prototyped various structural shapes to accommodate hydroponic growth and feline interaction. In the Converge phase, we utilized Adobe Illustrator for bespoke icon development. Recyclable cardstock was selected for the outer sleeve. The Functional Branding air holes were precision die cut into the brand’s cat head icon, balancing technical ventilation needs with visual identity.
- Design Challenge
- The primary challenge was designing a living package that must remain in a consumer's home for over 14 days. Creating a structure that provides root ventilation (air holes) without compromising the premium feel was a technical hurdle. We overcame this by integrating the brand's cat icon into the functional die-cuts. Another challenge was the sensitive branding balance, ensuring the brand was recognizable during unboxing while remaining subtle enough to act as a decorative rather than commercial object, once the top sleeve is removed.
- Research
- Type: Market Gap and User Experience Research. Objectives: To eliminate mold risks in commercial pet grass. Methodology: Supply chain analysis and veterinary collaboration. Tools: Prototyping and shelf-life testing. Participants: Feline caregivers and veterinary specialists in the UAE. Results: Identified that traditional retail storage leads to nutrient depletion. Insights: High-tier consumers prefer "quiet" branding that integrates with home decor. Impact: Created a new direct-to-consumer category that prioritizes freshness as a non-negotiable health benefit.
- Inspiration
- The project was inspired by the broken supply chain of the pet wellness market in the UAE, where stagnant shelf life compromised product safety. The visual language was inspired by the Natural Luxury concept, moving away from loud, primary-colored pet tropes toward a sophisticated palette that mirrors modern interior design. The core inspiration was the feline ritual: the quiet, instinctive joy a cat finds in nature, translated into a convenient, urban-friendly "unboxing" experience.
- Project Duration
- 6 months, France and UAE
- Operation Flow
- The user journey begins with a farm-to-door delivery of a sealed, living product. To activate the experience, a perforated strip is pulled to remove the top protective sleeve. This reveals the vibrant, pre-grown greens while leaving the lower base intact as a permanent decorative sleeve that conceals the internal tray. This two-part system ensures that the "messy" elements of hydroponic growth remain hidden, allowing the product to function as a clean, minimalist guest in the home for its 14-day lifespan.
- Team Members
- Creative Direction, Branding and Packaging Design: Cansu Dagbagli Ferreira
Icon Design: Didem Dagbagli
Motion Design: Murat Kaan Ozturk
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