Food Truck Brand Identity & Packaging System
Role
Brand Identity, Creative Direction, Illustration, Packaging & Environmental Design
Sabor Móvil is a conceptual brand identity for a Mexican food truck inspired by Oaxacan heritage and family cooking traditions. The project explores how illustration and cultural symbolism can help a new food cart stand out within Portland’s highly competitive street food scene while maintaining authenticity and approachability.
With hundreds of Mexican restaurants and food carts operating across the Portland metro area, differentiation became central to the identity. The brand was designed to celebrate handmade food and generational knowledge, translating the warmth of home cooking into a vibrant visual language. Traditional iconography and hand-drawn elements reinforce a sense of care, personality, and cultural connection, positioning the truck as both expressive and deeply rooted in heritage.
The identity uses a bold palette of deep blue, burnt orange, and yellow set against clean white surfaces to maximize visibility in busy urban environments. A modular illustration system built from cultural motifs such as chile peppers, coyotes, sun imagery, and maize creates a cohesive graphic language applied across packaging and the truck exterior.
Every customer touchpoint, including menus, taco trays, tissue paper, and hot sauce packets, extends the brand experience, reinforcing recognition while reflecting the handcrafted nature of the food itself.
Sabor Móvil demonstrates how culturally grounded storytelling and illustration can transform everyday packaging into a cohesive brand experience that builds recognition, personality, and emotional connection.
