Fhirst
Maximalist design for a maximized mood
What does opening real, scientifically backed happiness look like?
What we did
Industries
Four years ago, Fhirst founders Catherine and Steven Van Middelem dared themselves to make the healthiest, most uncompromising soda on the market. They took their time meticulously, responsibly perfecting their ingredients and probiotic micro-encapsulation technology, thereby ensuring the scientific credibility of their better-for-you claims—particularly, that more good bacteria in the gut positively impacts mental wellbeing in the long term.
But in the last few years, the “healthy” soda category exploded—suddenly, refrigerated shelves were teeming not only with juices, kombuchas, and flavored waters, but with trendy, better-for-you, prebiotic “pops” galore. How would standout product Fhirst, stand out? When better-for-you becomes the ordinary, how do you defy it?
This was a question that brand had to solve.
The first Superfunktional Soda™️
Mother Design set out to strategically reposition Fhirst as the world's first Superfunktional Soda: scientifically designed to boost your mood in the long run, it's soda for those who won’t settle for ordinary.
So with "better-for-you" now the "ordinary" soda at shelf, we had to reinvent what better-for-you could look and sound like. Was it fringe? Serene? Daring? Was it anything like the soft drinks of the past or present? For such brave clients, mood-enhancement-by-way-of-minimalism simply wouldn’t do. Instead, Mother Design sought to bring an intentionally unconventional, differentiating edge—particularly to the can label.
“FHIRST is a wake-up call to shake off the ordinary and embrace the wild.”
The soda you can't unsee
We knew Fhirst’s particular brand of joy had to defy the ordinary. As the most responsible, scientifically backed version of a mood-enhancing probiotic beverage, Fhirst naturally rejects the conventions of its category. The identity, therefore, had to do the same.
But "health" and "soda" products, historically, have two very different visual languages. Marrying their elements therefore resulted in an absolutely wild expression of joy at the graphic intersection of Big Soda and mom-and-pop, natural health-food store.
The new Fhirst wordmark is an homage to the Motter Regatta typeface by the late Austrian designer, Othmar Motter. It is crafted to balance timeless charm with expressive energy, reflecting the fluid movement and naturally dynamic essence of our product.
Striking the tone
We needed to create a voice for Fhirst just as punchy, playful, and irreverent as its design. Front-of-pack language like “Wildly Good Soda!”, “Have a Blast!”, and “It’s Good to be Alive!”, signal the ‘living’ nature of Fhirst’s probiotic content, without weighing prospective consumers down with ultra-functional scientific claims.
It's a super, funky, functional soda. It's Superfunktional Soda™️.
Our bold, conspicuous secondary typefaces include many globally familiar fonts accessible to the public and small business owners alike. These typefaces (Papyrus, Frankfurter, Blackmoor, and Beesknees, among others) are reminiscent of bygone 90’s health-food store signage; overused-to-the-point-of-camp, yet classic, and intended to withstand the test of time.
The varying typefaces add individual character and playfulness to each flavor's name and graphic universe. Our names—“Pineapple Yuzuphoria,” “Orange Cola Joyride,” “Good Time Lemon Lime,” and “Dr. Cherry Happy Place"—simultaneously communicate product flavor and evoke states of joy and elation.
Wild, vibrant, and transcendental, the brand identity captures Fhirst’s spirit by thoughtfully integrating our many elements: punchy voice, wild animals, traditional soda world elements and textures, vivid flavor illustrations, varied typography, stock ingredient graphics, and juicy color gradients.
Each element is used with intention—despite appearing triumphantly to the contrary—to create a distinctive and cohesive look intended to deliver sensorial joy, even before the first sip.
Our intrepid animal mascots—the eagle, butterfly, dolphin, and horse—represent pure, natural abandon.
The world of popular soda is full of bright, memorable colors. Fhirst deserved its own: our high-contrast primary gradient is paired with supporting colors Fhirst cyan and Fhirst purple for a combination that’s vivid and hard to ignore.
The secondary color palette is informed by our flavors. The structure of the secondary palette remains consistent with the structure of the primary palette, where each flavor is given one gradient, one bright color, and one darker color. This creates a complete color universe for each flavor and can.
Each element is used with intention—despite appearing triumphantly to the contrary—to create a distinctive and cohesive look intended to deliver sensorial joy, even before the first sip.
The overall system has the ability to flex beautifully across applications. From fliers and signage, vending machines and store displays, and stickers and merch, our brand elements can be scaled up and multiplied for a maximalist look, or isolated and paired back in quieter, though equally ownable moments.
air up
Defining a whole new way to taste
