Crispy Rice Treat

In support of the salad-chain company, sweetgreen’s first item of their dessert category since 2014, I involved in designing the lettering as well as the packaging design. The “sweet treat” is the name of brand’s dessert series. As for today, the Crispy Rice Treat is the first and only item in this category. This dessert is meant to create a healthy yet craveable take on this nostalgic treat. It is made with organic brown rice, quinoa, millet and honey-date caramel.

The original Rice Krispies Treats were invented in 1939 in the United States by the Kellogg Company. It has been a favorite snack item for kids in the U.S., generation by generation. The Crispy Rice Treat is Sweetgreen’s version invented by celebrity chef Malcolm Livingston II in 2021. This item is meant to be healthier than the original Rice Krispies Treats while maintaining great flavors and textures.

To create an identity of a dessert category that can be ownable by Sweetgreen, I dived deep into the historical references, including type designs, posters, and advertisements from the mid and late 20th Centuries. Collect and analyze what type designs were related to food and can be nostalgic simultaneously. Many customized letterings back in the day with wobbly strokes would help solve the challenge.

These letters often have exaggerated tear drops with distorted stems. The counter space and lockup of the lettering are intended to look mushy together, mimicking how ingredients are attached. The yellow and brown colors from sweetgreen’s brand colors match some of the ingredients from the dessert.