Blending two visually rich cultures

Cy Besser is a chef who likes doing things the right way. He has a passion for food, and doing it with the best possible ingredients. To supplement his catering business, he came up with an idea of doing a food truck; from which he could cater for food events, film shoots and the like, but to also work extramurally at events such as La De Da, Martinborough Fair and the weekly Wellington Markets.

He needed a theme, and was reminded of his time in California, when he came across the famous Californian style burritos. There was certainly a gap in the market… nobody was doing them in Welington, and because of the way they’re put together, make them the perfect, on-the-run, takewaway food

The brand needed to suggest the fusion of a number of ingredients… Mexico; the provenance of the dish, America; for the spin they took on it, but feel like us – Kiwi. No tall ask.

I started with Mexican icongography, but used Pacific and Tikanga Maori styled elements to bring it all together. The sugar skull is made up of very South Pacific elements, the wings are strong koru shapes, and the guitars, well, you can almost hear ‘Blue Smoke’ coming from them.

First impressions say Mexico, but if look closely while your beautiful burrito is being prepared, you’ll find a little bit of us in there; Moko, Hibisucs, Frangipani, Koru, Kowhaiwhai, Silver Fern, Kowhai, The Southern Cross, Fish Hooks and more.

Illustration rendered with much sensitivity by Samuel Sakaria at Watermark.

This work garnered a New Zealand Best Award in 2013 and a Graphis Award in 2014.