TRY Design’s vibrant identity for Godfisk finds its inspiration in cookbooks and sticky notes

Following a continual decline in the local consumption of fish across Norway, the Norwegian Seafood Council worked with Oslo-based creative studio TRY Design to relaunch Godfisk – simply translated to ‘nice tasting fish’ – in the pursuit of inspiring the public to put seafood back on the table. Reacting against Godfisk’s previously cold identity, the resulting rebrand is vibrant, playful and impactful; a tone reflective of the variety of flavours possible in a fish-infused diet. Taking inspiration from the printed ephemera associated with cooking – the likes of sticky notes, well-used cookbooks and the notebooks of family recipes – TRY sought to emphasise the bustle of our modern lives. Driving the vibrancy of the identity is their striking typographic choices, for which they chose David Jonathan Ross’ Roslindale and Monkey Type’s Banana Grotesk. The former makes an altered appearance within the brand’s wordmark, inspired by the typeface’s ‘fishy’ serifs. “We wanted to make a subtle fish in the G,” TRY’s Håvard Bergo tells us, resulting in the creation of stencilled lettering. “We stencilled the rest of the logo to stand well with the G,” he adds, “and to give a nod to the crates that are typically used to store fish.” Expanded upon as identity’s headline application, Roslindale’s semi-nostalgic flamboyancy aptly suited the cookbook aesthetic TRY sought out, whilst conveying an aquatic tone in-line with Godfisk’s subject matter. “For longer text, and on the coloured tags, we needed a grotesque that was friendly, fun and not too stiff,” he explains, appropriately opting for Banana Grotesk. “It was the perfect choice.”