Backyard Sodas
Overview
‘Backyard Sodas’ is a Kiwi soda brand where each flavour celebrates a different small town in Aotearoa through its local produce and identity. By prioritising regional storytelling and local imagery, ‘Backyard’ aims to market Aotearoa back to itself while bringing visibility to our small towns and local growers.
Skills
Illustration
Brand Identity
Year
2025
Timeline
8 Weeks
Team Members
Solo
Problem
Many small towns across Aotearoa are struggling to keep up in a national economy increasingly shaped by urban centres. As opportunities, resources, and cultural attention concentrate in big cities, rural communities are often left behind, economically, socially, and in terms of visibility. New highways and motorways also pose a threat as it means fewer people are stopping for petrol, food, or to visit local shops which hurt local businesses. This imbalance not only threatens the sustainability of small-town life but also weakens local pride and regional identity. Young adults, who hold the potential to shape the future, are often disconnected from these areas, with limited ways to engage meaningfully or support them.
Process
The creation of Backyard Sodas spanned 8 weeks. These weeks were filled with a cycle of research, ideation, iterations, feedback, and prototyping. It was my aim to make this project as tangible as possible to ensure the recognition of these towns and the effectiveness of the solution.
Outcome
Backyard Sodas is a kiwi soda brand made purely with produce from our own backyard. Inspired by Japan’s regional Kitkats, each drink heroes a different town in Aotearoa, showcasing their local produce, what they’re known for, and bringing the representation back to who needs it the most - our small towns and growers. Through relevant imagery from the small towns, along with prioritising the location name over any other branding, Backyard Soda aims to use the sodas as a way to market Aotearoa back to itself. A QR code on the back of the cans also allow consumers to visit a webpage dedicated to that small town to learn more about their history and key attractions.
A die-line for a 4-pack drink box was created for this project as an alternative option to buying an individual drink. To do this, I dissected an existing drink box to create my own die-line, along with researched any legal information and considerations needed for beverage packaging.
Physical mockups of these 4-packs were created, along with the soda can stickers, to test the accuracy of the die-line designs and to check other aspects such as sizing, readability, and contrast.
A website for Backyard Sodas was prototyped, including a ‘Drinks’ page, ‘About us’ page, and a ‘Towns’ page where you will find a long list of towns in Aotearoa to learn more about for potential future visits.
Backyard Sodas gives kiwis the opportunity to learn more about their own backyard, and encourages them to visit local and respect the land and local growers their produce comes from.