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Krakatoa Hot Chips

Naming, Branding, Packaging & Website

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Services

Strategy
Identity System
Packaging System
Brand Merchandise & Apparel
Video
Website Design & Development

Team

Creative Direction: Christian Helms
Design Team: Greg Thomas, Zach Wieland, Crystal Glover
Brand Management: Ryan Kitchens, Jamie Wang
Photographer: Nick Cabrera
Website Development: David Guillory

Chips-in on spicy.

Explosive snacks that pack a punch. Krakatoa is a fiery challenger brand that combines unique natural spices from across the globe to craft kettle chips that are lightyears beyond the common “flaming hot” flavors in the snack aisle. We worked with our partners at Amplify Snack Brands to build an immersive flavor experience for hot heads and spicy peeps, creating a revolutionary flavor experience centered around the joy of heat.

Inspired by our volcanic namesake, Krakatoa’s brand identity celebrates the product’s unique point of difference: a deeper dive into intense, quantifiable heat. Matte and metallic touches and a striking color palette leap from the shelf, allowing the packaging to stand out in an ultra-competitive category.

For heat-freaks, spice is a lifestyle. Simple, playful infographics quickly engage and inform the fanatical consumer base, who are always searching for something new and spicy. The result is a brand system that is equal parts evocative and informative, reflecting all of the passion and creativity that went into developing the chips themselves.

A roundhouse kick to the tastebuds?!!!

Kaboom! A revolutionary take on spicy snacks deserves a logo as remarkable as the product. Animation reveals a volcano hidden in the mouth, forming a unique mark that’s as cool as the chips are hot.

There is a whole world of chilis out there, each with their own unique flavor, spice and intensity. We built digital animations and custom packaging that describes the entire flavor experience, including where the spice hits your palate—from the back of tongue, to throat, nose, eyes and scalp. Whew.

Timing is everything. Some chips hit you with heat immediately, and others bring a slow burn and duration that doesn’t let up. Be sure to wash those hands after snacking!

Not for the faint of heart. Or stomach!

Everyone’s palate and tolerance for spice are different, so we developed quirky, stylized infographics that let chili heads dig into the spice intensity of each chip, ranking them specifically across the Scoville Unit Scale—from hot to volcanic. Are you looking for the next One Chip Challenge? Black Magic’s for you. Maybe you prefer to eat chips one whole bag at a time, and need something a little milder? Try Hot Hot Honey Pot, or Sour King. Dial in your perfect spice experience, and enjoy.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Helms Workshop to create the branding and packaging system for Krakatoa Hot Chips. It was a truly collaborative effort that included both traditional meetings and lets-meet-for-a-coffee-to-discuss-some-ideas work sessions. The brand identity helped us secure distribution at major national retailers as consensus feedback among category buyers was ‘I love the packaging.’ Christian and his team are equal parts talented and simply good, kind people.”

Jeff Day
Amplify Snacks
Helms Workshop®