When thinking about popular chip brands, it can be easy to forget about Sun Chips and their health centered approach to snacking. However, with a rapidly changing food market, it’s important to utilize our health, especially for the next generation. Given this, I wanted to rebrand Sun Chips towards younger audiences to encourage them to eat healthier. To understand why Sun Chips is unsuccessful to its competitors, I researched their current market and found that it was targeted towards the older generation who are health conscious. With this in mind, I wanted to refresh the brand and give it a brighter energy, which is why I chose to focus it towards the youth.
When researching brands that appeal to younger audiences, I found that many of them have animal mascots that are featured on packaging, which led to the creation of Chip the Lion, a new brand mascot. When choosing an animal, I focused on ones with connections to the sun, such as the eagle and the phoenix before settling on the lion. To create a more youthful look to appeal to young audiences, I also chose to create a new, vibrant color palette consisting of oranges and yellows to compliment Chip. A new logo was also designed to match the brand's push towards healthier snacking by utilizing the shape and texture of a sun ship and colors to symbolize a field where the whole grains of Sun Chips would grow.
With a new mascot in place, I redesigned the packaging to display Chip and his healthy lifestyle along with a new look for the chips themselves. The variety box of different Sun Chips flavors contains interactive elements, such as Chip’s mouth cut-out and a foldable paper toy inside to grab the attention of a younger audience and encourage them to choose Sun Chips. I also designed ads for Chip to promote Sun Chips as reclaiming the crown as the king of snacks.
