Broke But Tasty — Brand Strategy & Design
An unconventional food brand built with memes, sesame oil, and a side of cultural commentary.
A playful packaging concept that tackles the cost-of-living crisis while celebrating Asian culture.
Identifying the problem
Let’s be real—grocery shopping is starting to feel like a luxury hobby. This brand was born from a personal pain point and a deep love for sesame oil.
Broke But Tasty exists because instant noodles and rice bowls deserve to feel like a whole culinary moment. The idea? Affordable flavour + fun packaging + a bit of social commentary = one wildly relatable food brand.
Target audience
Gen Z and Millennial foodies with a sense of humour (and a budget).
Asian Australians craving representation and joy in the food space.
Students, renters, and anyone who wants to laugh while they eat.
Qualitative Research
The research started with lived experience—literally me, standing in the pantry staring at eggs and rice wondering how to chef it up. I also looked into the cultural role of sesame oil, its affordability, and what it represents in Asian households.
On the visual side, I studied meme culture, nostalgic packaging, and grassroots food branding to nail the tone: silly but smart.
Strategy Development
This brand is designed to disrupt the food aisle with humour, heart, and a whole lotta umami. The packaging includes:
A cheeky bilingual product name
‘Broke Bingo’ on the side (because why not gamify your pantry?)
Recipe cards for the broke, hungry, and creatively blocked
Everything—from the typography to the colour palette—is intentionally weird and wonderful. It's bold. It's affordable. And it makes eating cheap feel cool.
Challenges & Solution
The big challenge? Balancing the meme-level humour with genuine impact. This wasn’t just about “funny packaging.” It was about saying something real about the economy, race, and accessibility… while still making you smile at the checkout.
So I leaned into duality: visuals that grab attention, paired with underlying themes of cultural representation and food justice.
Here’s how it turned out
Take a look at the final brand design
go from idea soup to “holy sh*t, that’s my brand”
If this project made you feeling something… that’s the power of brand design.
Now imagine what that power could do for your brand. Whether you’ve got a fully-formed brief or just chaos in a Google Doc, I’m here to help you shape it into something scroll-stopping.