Nathan’s Famous Tap Water
New York tap water is responsible for the city's most iconic foods like the pizza and bagels. It's also the water New Yorkers use to boil Nathan's Famous hot dogs. And while people all over the U.S. can buy the famous hot dogs, they can't get New York's water. So, we canned it.
On this project, I was tasked with an unusual design challenge: how do I make a hot dog company look like a water brand—without losing its identity?
In this limited-run packaging project, I expanded on Nathan’s Famous’ existing identity (which I helped develop) to create something that felt both ownable and instantly readable. By adjusting palette and visual hierarchy, and incorporating cresting waves evocative of the water systems from which New York sources its tap water, the design walks the line between brand cohesion and product clarity—embracing some quirk, while staying unmistakably Nathan’s.