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INTRODUCTION
Designing for trust and clarity

In this case study, I’ll walk through how I crafted the visual and strategic identity of Advieh—a recipe app built to make home cooking simpler, smarter, and more satisfying. From the outset, my goal was to move beyond trends and create a brand language that feels modern yet warm, minimal yet rooted in real-life experiences.

I focused on developing a design system—logo, color palette, and overall visual tone—that would resonate with both first-time cooks and experienced users. Every decision had to balance clarity with character, ensuring the app felt approachable while still standing out in a crowded space.

This wasn’t just about picking a typeface or a shade of green. It was about translating core values—trust, comfort, and intentionality—into a visual system that could scale with the product and remain consistent across touchpoints. The result is a brand identity that reflects what Advieh stands for: an elevated, personal, and thoughtful approach to everyday cooking.

BRAND STRATEGY

Where Values Meet Design

I approached Advieh’s brand strategy as a foundational system—one that informs design decisions, supports user behavior, and clearly communicates the product’s intent. Rather than treat branding as a visual layer, I built it to work hand-in-hand with product functionality, ensuring every detail was purposeful and aligned with user needs.

Three core principles guided this process:

Simplicity
Advieh is designed to keep users focused. From visual hierarchy to interaction flow, I reduced complexity wherever possible—removing distractions and allowing users to stay present in the cooking process.

Efficiency
Each design choice was made to anticipate and support user behavior. Features like contextual timers and step-specific highlights weren’t added for aesthetics—they were built to help users move smoothly through tasks without second-guessing or backtracking.

Authenticity
Rather than adopt a polished or generic aesthetic, I focused on real moments in home kitchens. The brand voice and visuals reflect everyday cooking—familiar, warm, and honest—so the app feels like a trusted tool, not just a digital product.

These principles extend across platforms and will continue to guide future product touchpoints. The brand system is built to evolve while staying anchored by the core statement:
Simple. Smart. Delicious.

It’s not just a tagline—it’s a strategic anchor that connects design, functionality, and user experience into one unified identity.

DESIGN
Typography & Color Palette

To develop a brand identity grounded in focus and personality, I built Advieh’s visual language around a streamlined and purposeful color system.

At its core is our primary green: #1c6e1c—a deep, herbaceous tone inspired by the richness of real ingredients, especially the spices and herbs central to home cooking. This color wasn’t chosen for trend or aesthetic alone; it represents nourishment, growth, and the grounded simplicity of everyday meals.

This green serves as the brand’s visual anchor—used across UI elements, marketing materials, and packaging to provide consistency and instant recognition. It’s supported by a crisp white for clarity and openness, and a strong black for typographic structure and contrast. Together, this restrained palette reinforces focus, reduces visual noise, and supports a modern, clean interface that feels confident and composed.

The simplicity of this system allows the design to scale across platforms without losing coherence. Every touchpoint—from screens to printed collateral—maintains a consistent visual presence rooted in approachability and calm precision.

For typography, I conducted extensive testing across font families, weights, and screen sizes to ensure readability and tone alignment. I ultimately chose iBrand as the foundation for Advieh’s logotype. Its smooth curves and balanced geometry strike the right balance between warmth and structure. The rounded forms communicate friendliness and ease, while its clean design brings clarity and a sense of stability—matching the brand’s intent to feel trustworthy and human without being overly stylized.

This typographic choice complements the color system and reinforces the calm, focused experience Advieh is built to offer—supporting a brand that’s not just functional, but emotionally resonant at every interaction.

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BRAND NAME
Naming with Meaning

The name “Advieh”—which means “spices” in Persian—was chosen with deep intention. More than a word, it encapsulates the heart of our product: a celebration of flavor, memory, and the quiet rituals of cooking. In Persian culture, advieh is not just a single spice but a carefully balanced blend—handcrafted, passed down, and deeply tied to home and heritage.

We chose this name because it carries both poetic richness and functional clarity. It's short, distinctive, and easy to remember—yet it opens the door to something deeper: a sensory world built around balance, warmth, and personal expression. Just as advieh transforms a dish with subtle complexity, our app is designed to enhance everyday cooking through small, thoughtful details.

From a strategic lens, “Advieh” bridges tradition and technology. It’s culturally rooted yet universally accessible—an invitation to rediscover cooking as a creative act: an opportunity for self-expression, connection, and nourishment.

In essence, the name Advieh sets the tone for everything that follows.
It reflects our respect for cultural tradition, our passion for thoughtful design, and our belief that the most meaningful experiences often begin with the simplest ingredients.

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LOGO DEVELOPMENT

Designing the Brand’s Signature Symbol

The Advieh logo draws inspiration from the mortar and pestle, a timeless kitchen tool used across cultures to grind herbs, spices, and seeds into something vibrant and flavorful. This object isn’t just functional—it carries cultural and emotional weight. It reflects culinary heritage, handcrafted care, and a deep respect for ingredients—qualities that resonate at the core of the Advieh brand.

By choosing the mortar and pestle as our visual foundation, we rooted the brand in something universally familiar—an object that evokes memory, craft, and cultural continuity. It honors the act of cooking as something thoughtful and human, while subtly connecting tradition to modern experience.

Visually, the logo features clean, organic curves and a balanced structure, echoing our commitment to clarity and calm. Its rounded, minimalist form reflects a design language that’s both warm and precise. Adaptable across all platforms—whether as an app icon, avatar, or physical brand mark—the logo consistently reinforces the brand’s sense of approachability and purpose.

More than a design element, the Advieh logo is a distilled expression of our identity: a trusted tool, a celebration of process, and a quiet invitation to cook with care.

BRAND GUIDELINES

Establishing a Scalable Design Language

To ensure cohesion across every touchpoint, I developed a comprehensive brand system that could scale seamlessly—from early-stage product screens to long-term marketing campaigns. This system wasn’t just about visual harmony; it was about building trust through consistency and giving the brand room to grow without losing its identity.

The guidelines define the foundational elements of Advieh’s visual and verbal language: logo construction and placement, clear spacing rules, a thoughtful typographic hierarchy, and an adaptable tone of voice designed to support clarity, warmth, and confidence. These standards act as both a framework and a safeguard—ensuring that whether the brand appears on the App Store, within onboarding flows, across social media, or in printed collateral, it remains unmistakably recognizable and aligned with its core values.

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OUTCOMES

Brand as Foundation

The Advieh brand system launched with clarity and consistency, establishing a strong visual and emotional foundation from day one. From logo to typography to tone of voice, every touchpoint was crafted to feel intentional, modern, and approachable. The branding didn’t just support the product—it shaped how users perceived the experience.

The result is a visual identity that feels immediately recognizable and quietly confident. With clear guidelines and a unified design language, Advieh has maintained visual consistency across all user interactions, supporting brand trust and long-term recognition.

CONCLUSION

Designed to Feel Human

Advieh’s branding merges simplicity, cultural identity, and modern UX principles to create a personal, authentic, and elevated cooking experience. Through intentional design and storytelling, the brand stands apart in a crowded market—turning everyday cooking into something meaningful.

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© 2022 Zahra Alipoursohi. 
 

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