Brand Identity · Packaging Design · Airline Partnership
NOMAD
CUISINE
"We traveled the world to bring together the best flavors,
now it's your turn to take a bite."
Brand Identity · Packaging Design · Airline Partnership
"We traveled the world to bring together the best flavors,
now it's your turn to take a bite."
The Brief
United Airlines came to Nomad Cuisine with a clear challenge — design a product line for in-flight meals that doesn't just contain food, but communicates who we are and why we care. The packaging had to carry a personal message from the President, reflect the global spirit of Nomad Cuisine, and feel premium enough for the airline context.
Consumer-Facing Design
Before a single die-line was drawn, I thought about one specific moment — a passenger on a long-haul flight, tray table down, reaching for their meal. What would they feel when they picked this box up? That question drove every consumer-facing decision.
The passenger is captive, present, and open — one of the few moments in modern life where a person is fully disconnected. The packaging had to reward that attention with something worth reading.
The world skyline isn't decoration — it's a promise. Every landmark tells the traveller that this food came from somewhere real, made by people who cared enough to chase authenticity across continents.
The cursive signature from Sanjiv on the back panel transforms an anonymous meal box into something personal. It says: a real person made this decision, and they wanted you to know it.
The dashed flight-path line connecting the logo to the "Open Here" tag was a deliberate consumer-facing detail — making the act of opening feel like landing at a destination. Small, but it made passengers pause.
The QR code on the back wasn't just for nutritional info — it extended the brand story digitally, connecting a physical meal at 35,000 feet to the full Nomad Cuisine world online.
Final Product — Blue Line
Design Process
The earliest explorations started with a single question: what visual language says "global" without feeling generic? I explored geography, travel iconography, and world landmarks — testing silhouettes, outline styles, and color palettes across dozens of directions.
The world landmarks skyline became the defining visual — the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, Sydney Opera House all in one unified panorama. It instantly communicated the brand promise: we go everywhere so you don't have to.
The color exploration was extensive — Dark Red, Saffron, Fern Green, Dusty Rose, Metallic Gold. Each palette told a different story. The final blue line anchored on United Airlines blue with a smooth gradient. The red line — a warmer, bolder variant — became the second product line.
Myriad Pro handles all functional copy — clean, legible at small sizes, trustworthy. A handwritten cursive script carries the personal message from the President, signed by Sanjiv himself. The contrast between structured and human creates warmth that's rare in airline packaging.
The complete structural die-line resolved all six faces — the front with world skyline and brand story, the back with the president's message and heating instructions, the side with the world map flight path. Every surface tells part of the journey.
Second Product Line
The second variant of the packaging system — same story, bolder identity. The Dark Red line was designed for a warmer, more energetic product category, while keeping the world skyline and brand voice fully intact.
Full Product System
The brand system extended beyond the airline box into individual serving containers, snack packs, and dessert cups — all carrying the same world skyline, the same flight path, the same story.
Vegetable Samosa · Chutney · Kala Jamun Sandwich
Sweet rice pudding with roasted nuts
Where the product lives — on a tray table, above the clouds
Outcomes
The packaging system is live and expanding — currently deployed across United Airlines, JetBlue, and British Airways routes, with new product lines and formats in development. The world skyline has become the visual signature of the Nomad Cuisine brand across every format it touches.
Reflections
A box is held. Unlike a screen, it's physical and intimate — the person holding it forms an instant emotional judgment. Every millimetre had to earn its place.
Designing for 35,000 feet meant designing for a specific emotional state — tired, open, curious. The smooth gradient and warm cream were deliberate choices to meet travellers where they were.
Building a flexible system — not just one box — meant the brand could expand into snack packs, dessert cups, and new variants without starting from zero each time.