Freshslice Pizza

From Local to Global:

Discover the strategic brand transformation that propelled a business from its roots as a local legend to an undisputed global giant.

Timeline: 8-Weeks | Completion: July 2025 | Role: Brand Strategist

Freshslice Pizza box with a new branding design

  • Freshslice Pizza is a Canadian chain committed to fresh ingredients and great value.

    They offer a wide variety of pizzas, including gluten-free and vegetarian options, all made with their signature fresh dough. It's a popular spot for a quick, satisfying, and affordable pizza in British Columbia and beyond.

  • Standing out on the global market.

    Freshslice Pizza faces several brand design challenges as it expands from a local Canadian favorite to a global brand, especially with its Starbucks of Pizza ambition. In essence, Freshslice's design challenge is to create a brand identity that is both strong enough to be globally recognizable and flexible enough to be locally embraced, all while clearly communicating its unique value proposition in a crowded market.

  • Recognized for freshness and value.

    Freshslice requires a cohesive, appealing, and memorable globally adaptable and scalable visual identity that resonates with diverse audiences while staying true to its core values of freshness and value. Their vision to compete on the world stage demands an elevated design strategy that evokes quality, consistency, and a globally recognizable experience.

  • The Starbucks of Pizza: What makes Starbucks an iconic global brand?

    Starbucks' brand is visually strong due to a cohesive and intentional design strategy that extends across all touchpoints, from its iconic logo to its in-store ambiance. Therefore, I focused on developing the following areas below, so the Freshslice brand can also create a cohesive and deeply ingrained brand experience:

    1. An Iconic Logo

    2. The Meaningful Color Palette

    3. Consistent and Thoughtful Typography

    4. Immersive Store Design and Ambiance

    5. Consistency Across All Touchpoints

This one-pager is a reference to core brand elements that informed how and what was needed for the brand development project.

This one-pager is a reference to core brand elements that informed how and what was needed for the brand development project. By aligning business goals to user needs, I ensure that all the elements of the brand relate and connect altogether. This results in a cohesive and purposeful brand from the inside out.

 

Design Thinking:

Staying true to the core values.

Translating and refining the key message and story of Freshslice for this project required a hyper-focused understanding of who Freshslice is and who they serve. By identifying these core values, I prioritized vital areas of improvement based on delivering higher quality guest experience and establishing a competitive edge on the global market. Further informed by business goals and marketing strategies, I developed the high-impact design elements into a visual brand system that highlights the foundations of Freshslice: quality, value, and care.

Design Process:

Identifying high-impact challenges and solutions.

The 3 major categories to elevate Freshslice's global brand design included:

  1. Core Brand Identity and Differentiation

  2. Physical and Tangible Customer Experience

  3. Digital Engagement and Operational Cohesion

The following is the process of how each of these vital areas were developed.

🌟Focus 1:

Core brand identity and differentiation.

Challenges:

  • The core tension: maintaining brand consistency vs. local relevance

  • Standing out in saturated markets

Solutions:

  • Develop a refined and globally adaptable visual identity (modernizing logo, colors, typography, imagery, etc.)

 

🫶Focus 2:

Crafting a streamlined customer experience.

Challenges:

  • Scalability and adaptability of design elements (especially for physical locations and products)

Solutions:

  • Harmonize store design and ambiance (modular designs, fresh cues)

  • Strategic packaging design (premium, functional, sustainable, localizable)

 

📱Focus 3:

Digital engagement and operational cohesion.

Challenges:

  • Digital presence and marketing (ensuring effective online communication)

Solutions:

  • Strengthen digital brand experience (unified online presence, engaging content)

  • Brand guidelines and training (crucial for consistent global implementation)

 

Design Deliverables

The makings of a global icon.

 

Project Outcomes:

Freshslice Pizza, a Vancouver original, is evolving its brand and design for global leadership.

This transformation demands a strategic evolution of the Freshslice brand and design. By refining the visual identity, harmonizing the in-store experience, and strengthening their digital presence with clear guidelines, Freshslice will globally project its commitment to fresh ingredients and unbeatable value, turning local success into a globally recognized pizza powerhouse.

Retrospective:

A proudly Canadian pizza.

I grew up eating Freshslice as a teenager. It was an affordable, sharable treat with fun flavours.

BrandingPatricia Mazur