OUR PROCESS:

• Discover – get a thorough understanding of your business/organization/project through interviews and research

• Define – co-author a platform that defines your brand vision and shows how your values are supported in tangible ways

• Design – inspired creative development, grounded in the platform we’ve established in collaboration with you

TYPICAL DELIVERABLES:

• Strategy – workshops, research, brand platforms

• Naming – brands, products, programs

• Brand identity – logo, color, type, pattern, message

• Marketing – web, print, social, guerilla, copywriting

• Environmental – signage, graphics, murals

• Packaging – beverage, culinary, investor pitch

What is a Mother Sponge?

Mother sponge is a term for sourdough starter, the natural and traditional method of getting dough to rise. The sponge is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and wild yeast, and if fed regularly can live indefinitely. Some bakeries claim to use starters that have been active for decades or centuries.

Mother Sponge founder Sean Kelley was first exposed to breadmaking and starters while living in Berkeley, where sourdough pizza from the Cheeseboard Collective reigns supreme. Kelley began baking at home, deepening a connection to sourdough and a reverance for shared food traditions that bond people across space and time.

Kelley named the studio Mother Sponge as an homage to the power of culinary culture. Great food is like a great brand– each has the potential to gather, nurture, and inspire humans.

MoSpo History

Mother Sponge was conceived in 2010 with a focus on branding for food and beverage companies. We worked closely with clients to launch new restaurants and other food projects in San Diego. A select list of early clients includes The Linkery, El Take It Easy, Suzie’s Farm, MIHO and Cafe Virtuoso.

The studio began working with craft breweries in 2012, steadily growing an expertise and reputation for award-winning branding and packaging work in the beverage industry of Southern California. Mother Sponge helped to launch Societe Brewing, Unsung Brewing, Half Door Brewing, Malahat Spirits, Newtopia Cyder, GameCraft Brewing, and Le Metro wine club. The studio’s work for the San Diego Brewers Guild helped the region solidify its reputation as the “Capital of Craft” and further established Mother Sponge as a leader in beverage branding in California and beyond.

Our work gradually evolved with a special focus on graphic design for the built environment. We have helped design spaces and experiences through high level signage programs, environmental graphics, murals and other public art installations.