Epic Curing | Abraham Garcia

Between the butcher shop and the apothecary.

Most cured-meat brands on the shelf in 2018 leaned hard into either heritage (engraved butcher illustrations, Old World framing) or modernist apothecary (clinical minimalism, big numbers). Epic Curing sat between them, and the label did both jobs at once: black and utilitarian, with the name set heavy and hollow, and the whole ingredient list printed on the front where a shopper actually reads it (PORK, MAPLE SYRUP, BROWN SUGAR, SALT, SPICES).

The product itself, photographed in camp light against scout-grade accessories, completes the frame: this is meat for people who cook outside, made by people who cure it by hand a few miles away.

Identity

Exhibit Live at wrkhrs.co

Naked Bacon pack on a slate counter with a blue mug and brown eggs — Naked Bacon on slate. The whole ingredient list on the front of the pack.

The line, labeled. One arrangement holds for every product name.

Photography

Photographed where the meat gets eaten.

The photography ran two ways. The launch shoot placed the products against camp-grade accessories: enamel mugs, brown eggs, scout-print matches, slate counters. The in-market series followed the brand out of the studio and into the city, to the kamado in the garden, the charcuterie boards at the table, the sandwiches at the restaurants that stock the line.

Photography

From the grill to the lunch counter.

Shot around Washington between the 2018 launch and the 2019 season: a backyard kamado, deli boards, and the restaurants that serve the line.

Cook in an EPIC tee lifting the lid of a red kamado grill, smoke rising — Lifting the lid on the kamado.

Gloved hand laying bacon on the grill over skewered pork — Bacon on the grate.

Hand seasoning a steak on the kamado with a small yellow cup — Seasoning on the grill.

Hands toasting cans of beer over a charcuterie board — Cans over the board.

Cook in an EPIC tee carrying a tray of raw steaks past the kamado — The tray goes out.

Back of an EPIC tee, a tray of steaks and skewers on the grill shelf — The tray on the grill shelf.

Tray of steaks, skewers, and a yellow cup on the grill side table — On the side table.

Overhead of hands cutting from a charcuterie board with a beer — The board, from above.

Sliced pastrami with pickles and heirloom tomatoes on a cutting board — Pastrami, pickles, tomatoes.

Sandwich in EPIC paper in a white bowl with a beer — Wrapped in EPIC paper.

Three stacked deli sandwiches against a white brick wall — Three sandwiches against white brick.

Sliced ham, pickles, and tomatoes on a board — Ham on the board.

Overhead of an EPIC cutting board with sliced meats, tomato, and mustard — The EPIC board, overhead.

A tall sandwich with greens and pastrami on EPIC paper — A tall one on EPIC paper.

Launch

A launch that ran on appetite.

The launch ran as a program. A monthly Instagram grid alternated photography with badge and tagline frames, and the Meet-the-Products series set each product name (NAKED BACON, EPIC PASTRAMI, TURKISH-D BACON) in the stacked outline logo over its own photography. The End of Summer Meat Up took the brand on the road: a month of tastings across DC breweries and restaurants, announced by posters designed as ticket stubs and backed by giveaway tickets and totes.

Naked Bacon name set over bacon photography — Meet the products. Naked Bacon.

Epic Pastrami name set over sliced pastrami — Epic Pastrami.

Turkish-D Bacon name set over a product flatlay — Turkish-D Bacon.

End of Summer Meat Up poster printed on Bone White — End of Summer Meat Up poster, on Bone White.

Meat Up poster variant designed as a ticket stub — The ticket-stub variant.

Tote, the name and the line.

Black tote printed with SMOKE MEAT EVERY DAY — Tote, SMOKE MEAT EVERY DAY.

Cut from the full case study at wrkhrs.co/work/epic-curing