Good Use is an up-and-coming East Bay company that turns “ugly” fruits and vegetables into tasty juices, thereby cutting down on food waste and providing a healthy product. The company started out producing homemade juices for tech companies, but with their products now sold in grocery stores, including Bi-Rite and Rainbow Market in San Francisco, they needed to update their packaging.

Packaging design company Hatch asked Annabelle Breakey to shoot a series of “portraits” that reflect the ingredients and the playful image of the company. Good Use cold-pressed juices all have cheeky names that reflect the ingredients inside: If Looks Could Kale, Turn Up the Beet, Vitamin Sea, and One in a Melon.

“I loved the idea, it’s not every day you get to do such a fun, clever packaging project, and I immediately wanted to partner with them,” said Annabelle, who is a believer in reducing food waste. She previously created images for Hidden Valley Ranch’s Taste Not Waste campaign.

Good Use provided the ingredients—actual “ugly” beets, kale, celery, limes, watermelon, lemons, ginger, and carrots—and Annabelle’s team got to work chopping, cutting, slicing, and dicing.

“The vision came from the senior designer Bryan Kleghorn, he wanted the images to be more edgy and cool rather than cute, but the project was really a collaboration. We tried all kinds of ideas; nothing was too cool or too funky. We gave the watermelon a nose piercing, and we gave the apple a kale pompadour. Some ingredients, it seemed we wouldn't find a way to incorporate them, but we kept playing, and it all came together. The ginger became the smile on the apple, and we gave a blue spirulina tongue to the lemon. On the beet, we were just going to do a little face, and then Bryan says, ‘Let's put headphones on him!' It was a lot of fun," said Annabelle. 

Once they had the “portrait” they wanted, they deconstructed the portraits to create animations. The images can be seen on Good Use’s packaging, as well as on the company’s website and social media channels.

“The images don’t look ugly; they’re actually kind of pretty. But I think that’s a metaphor for the whole project. Just because a veggie is a little bit misshapen doesn’t mean it’s not delicious and healthy. Good Use is an awesome company, and they're going to make the world a better place by cutting down on a lot less food waste,” said Annabelle.