Life is a Pool Party.
From the start, Lawrence (Mucky Duck's Managing Partner) knew exactly how he wanted the new Mucky Duck brand to feel: fun. Thankfully, he trusted us when we said that feeling couldn't come from a logo or color palette alone. It had just as much—if not more—to do with the brand’s character: how it talks, what it says, and how it carries itself in the wild.
As designers, we often see a brand’s character glossed over, reduced to safe, unremarkable traits like “authentic” and “approachable.” Sure, they don’t rattle any already risk-averse decision-makers, but they mean next to nothing when it’s time to actually make a brand feel like something.
So, how do you make a brand feel genuinely, distinctly fun? You look for examples in the wild—people, voices, moments—that embody the qualities you're chasing.
Enter Chris Farley.
For anyone lucky enough to have grown up with or stumbled upon his work, Farley was a defining comedic force of the ’90s. But it wasn’t just the laughs. It was the tension in his comedy—that wild, over-the-top energy paired with a disarming gentleness, a real vulnerability tucked inside the chaos. That energy was the perfect encapsulation of Lawrence’s vision: to have fun with Mucky Duck while honoring the legacy that had brought it to store shelves 40 years prior.
With that strategic clarity, the brand voice sprang to life: “Condiments that will kick you in the palette and then send your grandma a nice thank you card.” It grew into a fully realized identity so unlike anything else in the condiment aisle, others might have run in fear.
Not Lawrence. Thank goodness for that.
His trust in the process made space for something rare. Something not born of trend or fear, but of conviction. Together, we created a brand that lives in people’s hearts and minds—not forgotten in the back of the fridge, or worse, collecting dust on a shelf.
Credits
Year: 2023
Agency: Traction Brands
Creative Direction: Gerald Westlund
Brand Design + Illustration: Maggie Noble
Copywriting: Maggie Noble + Gerald Westlund
Project Management: Camron Gnass, Lindsey Schoeber
Life is a Pool Party.
From the start, Lawrence (Mucky Duck's Managing Partner) knew exactly how he wanted the new Mucky Duck brand to feel: fun. Thankfully, he trusted us when we said that feeling couldn't come from a logo or color palette alone. It had just as much—if not more—to do with the brand’s character: how it talks, what it says, and how it carries itself in the wild.
As designers, we often see a brand’s character glossed over, reduced to safe, unremarkable traits like “authentic” and “approachable.” Sure, they don’t rattle any already risk-averse decision-makers, but they mean next to nothing when it’s time to actually make a brand feel like something.
So, how do you make a brand feel genuinely, distinctly fun? You look for examples in the wild—people, voices, moments—that embody the qualities you're chasing.
Enter Chris Farley.
For anyone lucky enough to have grown up with or stumbled upon his work, Farley was a defining comedic force of the ’90s. But it wasn’t just the laughs. It was the tension in his comedy—that wild, over-the-top energy paired with a disarming gentleness, a real vulnerability tucked inside the chaos. That energy was the perfect encapsulation of Lawrence’s vision: to have fun with Mucky Duck while honoring the legacy that had brought it to store shelves 40 years prior.
With that strategic clarity, the brand voice sprang to life: “Condiments that will kick you in the palette and then send your grandma a nice thank you card.” It grew into a fully realized identity so unlike anything else in the condiment aisle, others might have run in fear.
Not Lawrence. Thank goodness for that.
His trust in the process made space for something rare. Something not born of trend or fear, but of conviction. Together, we created a brand that lives in people’s hearts and minds—not forgotten in the back of the fridge, or worse, collecting dust on a shelf.
Credits
Year: 2023
Agency: Traction Brands
Creative Direction: Gerald Westlund
Brand Design + Illustration: Maggie Noble
Copywriting: Maggie Noble + Gerald Westlund
Project Management: Camron Gnass, Lindsey Schoeber
Further Reading
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