The Puddin’ Express

Food Truck Branding Concept — 2019
“a truck I'd actually go to.”
Rice pudding is comfort food. It’s also deeply rooted in Mexican culinary tradition—the kind of dish you’d find simmering in a pueblo kitchen, served warm with spice and care. The Puddin’ Express started with a simple personal truth: a love of rice pudding, Hispanic culture, and the vibrant, colorful spirit of places like the ones that inspired Coco. The concept — a laidback dessert truck with a small, intentional menu of flavored rice puddings and spiced hot cocoa — felt true to the food and the culture it was celebrating.

the brief

product /
a Mexican-inspired rice pudding dessert truck with a small, intentional menu of flavored rice puddings and spiced hot cocoa.
people /
young to middle age adults, 21–45, in the greater San Diego area.
personality /
light, playful, kind. clean, creative, fresh, mellow.

the inspiration

The visual direction drew from the warmth and vibrancy of Mexican folk art and culture — the hand-painted tiles, the papel picado, the bold saturated color of a pueblo in full celebration. The goal was a brand that felt festive but not loud, colorful but not chaotic. Warm enough to feel like home, polished enough to feel intentional.

A collage featuring bold, colorful folk-style patterns and street café imagery: a black background with bright floral and rooster illustrations, multicolored papel picado banners, horizontal rainbow stripes, a pink striped food truck labeled ‘Street Café,’ and a close-up of a pastel pink ice cream van.
A collage of decorative folk art and architectural details: intricate floral patterns, brightly painted tile stair risers, a yellow building with a turquoise doorway and bicycle, stylized animal illustrations, a large serif wordmark reading ‘abcde,’ a black letter ‘A’ filled with vine motifs, and a row of rich, warm color swatches.

the exploration

Before any pixels, there was paper. Drawing has always been part of how I think through a design problem — not as illustration, but as a way of working out ideas before committing to the screen. The logo composition — the bold block lettering, the script, the grain motif wrapping the type — was worked out by hand first. What started as a rough sketch became the blueprint for the final mark.

The Puddin’ Express prinmary logo sketch
The Puddin’ Express partial stacked logo sketch

the thinking

Good branding starts with knowing who you're designing for. Two audience personas were developed to ground the visual decisions in real human context — defining not just demographics but personality, lifestyle and values. Meet Daveed and Vida.

The Puddin’ Express primary logo sketch

Vida is a young professional building her career and getting her name out there. She loves her job at the Old Globe Theatre and enjoys giving her free time to playwriting...

The Puddin’ Express partial stacked logo sketch

Daveed is a 3rd year college student attending San Deigo State University and majoring in Biology with a minor in Geological Studies. He hopes to be a Biology teacher one day.

the system

Every element of the Puddin’ Express brand was designed to work together as a cohesive whole — from the hand-lettered logo mark to the color palette rooted in the warmth of Mexican folk tradition. The result is a complete brand system built to live consistently across every surface the truck might touch.

The Puddin’ Express Creative Brief cover
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The Puddin’ Express Graphic Standards 2019 cover
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the reflection

The Puddin' Express was designed in 2019 but the love behind it hasn't changed. Looking back, the brand system is stronger than I gave it credit for at the time — but so is my eye. There are choices I'd push further today, colors I'd be bolder with, and a visual language I'd let breathe a little wilder. Returning to this project has been a reminder that the research and legwork make the design process cleaner and the result stronger—and that the foundations built before a mark is made are what hold everything together.