For the third year in a row, Brandcenter has partnered with the University of Richmond’s Bench Top Innovations program—a year-long course where students take a food or beverage concept from ideation to commercialization. This unique collaboration brings together UR students, who develop the product and marketing strategy, and Brandcenter students, who craft the branding and visual identity under the guidance of faculty member and creative director KT Schaeffer.
Each fall, the UR students split into teams to develop competing product ideas, culminating in their annual Bake Off, where one concept is chosen to head to market. This year’s theme? Dressing. And the teams delivered in a big way.
After months of research, iteration, and creative problem-solving, Envee emerged victorious. Envee is a pesto Caesar dressing with bold flavors and clean ingredients. The branding, spearheaded by Brandcenter students Walid Al-Tinawi (Experience Design, 2025), Nithya Charles (Art Direction, 2025), Henry Coffey (Copywriting, 2025), and Harper Lock (Creative Brand Management, 2025), helped bring the product’s fresh, vibrant identity to life.
Brand Aesthetic
Team members share their experience of developing the aesthetic of the brand. Art Director Nithya Charles explained how the UR team’s mood boards influenced the visual direction: “The mood boards they showed us portrayed this really aspirational lifestyle. We kept coming back to this idea of ‘envy.’ We wanted to make this dressing into a status symbol—something people are envious of.”
Copywriter Henry Coffey emphasized the connection between the product’s color and the brand’s essence: “Sometimes, copywriting starts with a very simple truth. In this case, the green color of this salad dressing was the kernel of inspiration for an entire brand. We asked ourselves, what would a salad dressing look like if it made you green with envy? And everything we created answered that question.”
Nithya also noted the importance of distinguishing the brand from others using similar color schemes: “We wanted to make the branding stand out from other products using shades of green, like Graza. Enter the basil leaves. Those and our ingredient icons served as key visuals on the packaging and for the rest of the brand.”
Collaborating with Clients
Working outside of Brandcenter provided students with valuable insight into collaborating with clients who may not be as familiar with branding. Creative Brand Manager Harper Lock shared, “The most challenging part of developing Envee’s brand was not only selling our ideas but also educating our UR partners. They are a highly talented group of business people, but are less experienced in branding, so it was important to explain our rationale in a digestible way.”
Brandcenter’s hands-on approach played a key role in overcoming these challenges. “Brandcenter equipped me for this project by giving me experience with the creative process,” Harper continued. “By having already worked with creatives, I was more knowledgeable of their process and was able to advocate for them and their timelines in a way that still provided stellar work.”
Henry adds, “The University of Richmond team brought us a ton of great insights and inspiration. They were a huge part of us getting to such a fun and striking brand identity.”
The process of bringing a product to life outside of creative briefs was eye-opening for Nithya, who reflected, “My biggest takeaway from this project was an understanding of just how much needs to come together to bring a project to life. Typically at Brandcenter, our work stops at the hypothetical. This project enlightened me about everything that comes once you’ve sold the work.”
Mentorship
KT Schaeffer, faculty member and creative director, was integral to guiding the students through the technical and creative challenges of the project. Henry shared, “KT was invaluable to Envee. She consistently pushed my copy to a better place, and she is the reason Envee has its distinctive double E, which ended up being a crucial part of our brand.”
Nithya echoed this sentiment, saying, “Her design eye is incredible, and she was super supportive throughout this whole process. She helped us understand the UR team’s feedback and was integral in the technical aspect of this project—meeting design specifications and making sure everything was pixel perfect.”
You can purchase Envee on their site, and you should see the dressing in local stores soon.