Who doesn't love Tabasco sauce? It goes well with everything, from tacos to vodka to the ubiquitous food trend of the millennium, avocado toast. Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson even recommends keeping a bottle in one's handbag for emergencies. And while the brand's instantly recognisable for the shape of its bottles and its diamond label, it's now been given some extra kick with a full visual identity – and it's on fire.
The ingredients for this blazing hot bevy of new Tabasco-flavoured assets? A new tagline, a bold colour palette, strong typography and improved photography. Beyond the famous bottle and label, the McIlhenny Company now has a modern, unified look for materials ranging from print ads to social media content, menus and more, refreshing a brand that dates all the way back to 1868. Looking for inspiration for your own work? See our guide to the best branding books and our roundup of more great examples of colour in branding.
Bold patterns and vibrant colours add plenty of spice to the new Tabasco sauce identity (Image credit: McIlhenny Company via Mrs&Mr)
Created by New York agency Mrs&Mr, this is the famous Louisiana hot sauce's first complete, unified visual identity. Very sensibly, they've not messed with the things the McIlhenny Company already had spot on – the familiar Tabasco sauce bottle and label. But they've backed them up with bold graphics that do justice to the sauce's fiery reputation.
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Refreshingly, they've avoided many of the cliches associated with hot sauces – so no grilled stakes, infernal flames or spontaneous combustion. Instead, we get vibrant patterns, halftone graphics and rough illustrations with a tactile, handmade feel and plenty of healthy-looking greens.
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Tabasco's hot new look in situ(Image credit: McIlhenny Company via Mrs&Mr)
The new tagline pairs well with the bold colour palette(Image credit: McIlhenny Company via Mrs&Mr)
A bold halftone look for Tabasco drinks menus(Image credit: McIlhenny Company via Mrs&Mr)
The work shows that a brand can really be given a boost through the creation of a unified visual identity that goes beyond, but backs up and even enhances its core logo (see our guide to how to design a logo for more on that). Also, this week we had another example of strong branding from a condiment giant when Heinz demonstrated that it's even recognised by AI. Not all branding is so memorable, however – take a look at these logos you might be remembering wrong.
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
