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InspirationGraphic Design

Robot Food celebrates the best of Yorkshire produce with Harewood Food and Drink Project

The Harewood Estate, situated between Leeds and Harrogate, is known for its rich history and the expansive grounds around Harewood House. Now, the Harewood Food and Drink Project has launched as a new collaborative initiative that partners with local makers to produce delicious, artisanal products using fresh ingredients found on the estate.

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Four Harewood beer bottles with illustrated labels featuring seasonal designs in green, yellow, red and blue on a white background

Leeds-based creative design agency, Robot Food, was asked to develop the brand and take the lead on its positioning, naming, identity creation and packaging design.

With grounds abundant in natural resources, the family behind the Harewood Estate since 1738 had not only spotted an opportunity to leverage its lesser-known legacy for food production, but to champion the best the local Yorkshire community had to offer.

Robot Food’s task was to create a confident brand inspired by the history and heritage of the land and to communicate it in a way that is relevant to a contemporary audience who are passionate about home-grown produce.

The nature of the Harewood Food and Drink Project means that the outcome of each collaboration has the potential to be different and so Robot Food needed to consider everything and anything; from spirits, ales and meats to pop-ups and dining experiences.

The team’s strategy was two-fold, the first step being to create a distinct brand mark that anchored the project and could be applied consistently across a breadth of deliverables. Next, the team established an eclectic illustrative style that both complemented the simplicity of the brand mark and allowed enough flexibility to change from product to product, depending on ingredient, story and collaboration.

The result is a cool, contemporary design that foregoes an expected, stuffy farm shop aesthetic and challenges perceptions of a privately owned rural estate for a brand that is bold, expressive and reflective of the project itself.

Martin Widdowfield, Creative Director at Robot Food, said: “There’s so much more to the Harewood Food and Drink Project than the end result. For us, the design needed to celebrate the family, their partnerships, their land and communicate their unique story. It’s great to work with global brands, but we feel equally excited to work so closely with someone local doing something so different. Can’t wait to see what comes next.”

Hand holding a smartphone displaying the Harewood Food and Drink Project branding with a circular compass-like logo on a black and white label design
Person wearing a Harewood Food and Drink Project t-shirt holding a slate board displaying fresh green hops
Fresh red tomatoes on the vine and carrots with water droplets on a grey surface
Highland cattle graze beneath a large tree on the Harewood Estate, with rolling green fields and woodland visible in the background
Harewood Food and Drink Project stamp featuring a circular logo with stylised trees and dots, shown both as a rubber stamp and its printed impression
Harewood Food and Drink Project menu clipped to a wooden clipboard, featuring mains and desserts with the tagline "Grown with care, made with love
Harewood greystone gin bottle with concentric circle design and gold circular seal on white label
Harewood gin bottle with concentric circle logo placed on a moss-covered log in a woodland setting
Colourful product packaging samples featuring hand-painted watercolour backgrounds in blue, yellow, green and orange with black geometric symbols and line illustrations, designed by Robot Food for the Harewood Food and Drink Project.
Haywood ale bottle with yellow and green label design positioned on moss-covered rocks in natural woodland setting
Harewood ale bottle with white label featuring black silhouette figures, positioned on moss-covered ground with blurred foliage in background
Harewood summer ale bottle surrounded by moss and foliage in woodland setting, showcasing the brewery's natural heritage branding
Harewood Food and Drink Project beer bottle with illustrated label positioned on mossy ground beside autumn leaves, with blurred trees and water in the background at sunset
Deer with antlers standing in a misty golden-lit meadow surrounded by mature trees at Harewood Estate
Man wearing black Harewood Food and Drink Project t-shirt standing in front of vibrant pink flowers
Black tote bag with Harewood Food and Drink Project logo featuring trees and text in white on dark wood background
Harewood Food and Drink Project logo on dark wooden background featuring circular badge with trees above ground and roots below, connected by dots
Three circular icons with white line drawings on black background labelled Growth, Collaboration and Produce, representing the core values of the Harewood Food and Drink Project
Harewood Food and Drink Project logo and text on black background describing a new collaborative initiative at Harewood Estate featuring local expertise and Yorkshire produce
Greystone Small Batch London Dry Gin product information on black background describing handcrafted gin using ancient techniques and botanicals from the Harewood Estate
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