Hill Country Homestyle Naming + Packaging — Jason B Cohen / First Chair Creative

Naming, packaging and product-development system for Hill Country’s expanding take-home and delivery business.

Hill Country Homestyle

Hill Country Homestyle began with the need for a branded delivery box and evolved into a broader system for bringing the restaurant experience home. The name connected Hill Country’s Southern hospitality to a growing range of prepared foods, barbecue kits and large-format offerings.

The visual language emphasized people, process and a handcrafted point of view. Handwriting, signatures, stamps, kraft materials and practical packaging details gave the system a personal quality while allowing it to expand across dozens of products and seasonal ideas.

Brand / Client
Hill Country Barbecue Market
Category
Packaged Goods, Wine & Spirits
Context
In-house at Hill Country Barbecue Market
Role
Naming, concept development, creative direction, design and photography
Services
Naming, Brand Extension, Packaging Design, Product Concepting, Delivery Packaging, DTC Experience, Photography
Design and Photography
Jason B. Cohen
Photography
Pat Dunford
Video
Shelby Ross and Tyler Isaacson

Hill Country Homestyle sweet-pickle jar mockup styled with vegetables and spices on a dark surface.

Finished Hill Country Homestyle jars on a kitchen counter beside a branded shipping box.

Three Hill Country Homestyle jars of pickles and candied jalapeños photographed together.

The range extended from whole briskets and barbecue boxes to sauces, pickles, sides and other take-home products.

Open Hill Country Homestyle shipping box with branded brown tissue paper covering the contents.

Closed Hill Country Homestyle insulated shipping box sealed with a black branded band.

Open Hill Country Homestyle food-delivery box with potato rolls, packaged meat and condiment containers.

Open Hill Country Homestyle insulated box containing prepared food trays and labeled tubs.

Hill Country Homestyle sandwich-kit contents with packaged meat, potato rolls and condiment jars.

Hill Country Homestyle barbecue kit packed in an open insulated shipping box with rolls, meat and sides.

Full Hill Country Homestyle barbecue-box assortment laid out with ribs, meats, rolls, sides, sauces and pickles.

Hill Country Homestyle side-dish kit with prepared trays, a wrapped item and labeled tubs arranged on white.

A dedicated rib kit brought the system into a more participatory direct-to-consumer experience, combining prepared components, step-by-step guidance and branded packaging designed to bring part of the Hill Country experience home.

Laptop mockup showing the Hill Country Backyard Rib Kit product page and online ordering interface.

Hill Country rib-kit contents being unpacked on an outdoor table, with wrapped ribs, seasoning and smoking chips.

Hands rubbing seasoning onto ribs from a Hill Country Homestyle kit on a wooden cutting board.

Prepared Hill Country Homestyle ribs and sausage served outdoors with slaw and a jar of candied jalapeños.

Hill Country Homestyle rib kit in an open insulated box with ribs, seasoning, sauce and smoking chips.

Cooked Hill Country ribs on an outdoor cutting board beside the kit’s sauce, seasoning and smoking-chip bag.

Some items were packed in-house or co-packed and sold directly to consumers, while others remained concepts developed to show how Homestyle could grow into a fuller lifestyle-driven Barbecue platform.

Hill Country Homestyle barbecue-sauce bottle concept with a cream label and silver cap.

Hill Country Homestyle barbecue-sauce bottle concept with a black label and black cap.

Hill Country Homestyle pulled-pork packaging concept with a kraft-paper sleeve around a black tray.

Hill Country Homestyle jalapeño-and-cheddar smoked-sausage package concept with orange and red accents.

Hill Country Homestyle spicy hot-links smoked-sausage package concept with black and red accents.

Naming, packaging and product-development system for Hill Country’s expanding take-home and delivery business.