Flourish — Theo Ardinger

San Francisco-based designer

Flourish

Branding Packaging Photography

2025

Flourish is a fictional skincare brand crafted from repurposed bread waste created in response to a brief to "design and promote a new brand made entirely of food waste". As someone passionate about sustainable design, I was drawn to the challenge of addressing food waste in a way that felt authentic while avoiding greenwashing at all costs.

Through research, I discovered that bread is the most wasted food globally, which became the cornerstone of my project. Rather than focus on large-scale manufacturing waste, I pivoted toward household bread waste, which accounts for 70% of the total. This insight inspired a community-focused, circular model, where used bread could be returned and transformed into gentle, minimalist skincare products.

From verbal identity to logo design and sustainable packaging, I carefully shaped Flourish around its core values:

Honesty, Sustainability, Simplicity, Authenticity, and Quality.

Every design choice from the grain-inspired logomark to the use of Seed Paper reinstates my mission. Touchpoints like the Bread Return Station create community engagement and reinforce Flourish’s commitment to circularity.

This project allowed me to explore speculative branding, audience-first storytelling, and sustainability-led design, all while pushing against aesthetic expectations of what an “eco” brand should look like.