We’re big fans of a good origin story. Picture: Wisconsin, 1918. Kaukauna founder, Hubert Fassbender, perfected the method of cold-pack cheese, creating a delicious blend of cheddar, combined with flavors like wine and spices. And with that, “club cheese” became a staple on tables across America.

Fast-forward 100 years — Kaukauna needed a way to recapture its rich heritage for a new generation of cheese lovers. To celebrate a century, Kaukauna looked to launch a new “No Artificial Anything” version of its classic cheeseball.

This made for the perfect opportunity for a throwback approach to brand strategy, centered around infusing the design with story and character harkening back to Kaukauna’s humble Wisconsin roots.

Taking inspiration from the original Kaukauna ceramic cheese crocks, we evolved the identity to include a hand-drawn, scratchboard style illustration—modeled after real Wisconsin dairy barns and complete with a nod to Kaukauna’s origins (peep the 1918 placard above the window).

A vintage typeface, enhanced color navigation, clean layout, and emphasis on a century of Wisconsin quality tie the graphic identity and packaging elements together for a design uniquely celebrating everything that defines the Kaukauna brand in the past, present, and for the next 100 years and beyond.