DISH

2008. The recession hit. Families stopped eating out. But Kraft – the country's largest food company, with $42 billion in revenue and 80+ brands – wasn't built to inspire home cooks. Recipe presentations were inconsistent across brands. Photography felt dated. The opportunity was clear: if Americans were staying home, Kraft needed to make home feel like a destination.

A recipe isn't just instructions. It's a promise. Every photograph, every ingredient list, every step is either inviting someone to cook – or giving them permission to order takeout. We flew to Chicago to work with Kraft's kitchen photographers. Shifted all food photography toward the fresh end of the visible spectrum. Made meals look like something you'd order, not something you'd settle for.

We created DISH: Delicious Innovation Served Here. A visual style guide with smart, easy-to-follow recipe design templates for every Kraft brand to access and implement. We wrote all the rules in uncommonly clear and visually delicious guidelines. Rachel Doyon established the elevated yet inviting look. Don Zinzell and I traveled to Kraft's kitchens to oversee the photography of every hero meal. When DISH was ready, we invited everyone at Kraft to the new table with a teaser campaign – posters, recipe cards, and email blasts that made the guidelines themselves feel like an event.

DISH became the unified visual language for America's largest food portfolio. Kraft Mac & Cheese. Oscar Mayer. Philadelphia. DiGiorno. Jell-O. Cool Whip. Stove Top. 12 billion-dollar brands. 70+ brands generating $100 million each. All following the same system. While competitors scrambled, Kraft leaned into the recession – and the "meal solution" strategy we helped visualize drove growth when the industry was contracting. DiGiorno grew 20%+ in 2009. Kraft delivered record profits in the worst economy in decades.