Alex Butenko

Alex Butenko

Golden Sun
Branding, Packaging
Creative Direction & Design

︎ Client: Acton
︎ Agency: Unified Brands
︎ Client Service & Strategy: Mike Robertson, Zelda Senekal, Nicole McClure, Paige Flemming
︎ Creative Team: Alisha Kay, Chiara Ronchi, Jamie Turnbull, Emma Lawrence
︎ Case Study Photography: Alisha Kay, Ann Davenport, Yuki Sato


Golden Sun is a brand that was born from a desire for travel and more adventurous eating in a time when meat and three boiled vegetables was the order of the day. The original founder, Ray Thomas, searched the world for the new and exciting. He became one of the first to introduce soy sauce to the New Zealand palate, which Kiwis are eternally grateful for.

The brand was in decline and was fragmented across a sea of categories. Now run by the second generation, the family wanted to invigorate the brand for a bright future.

Unified Brands team delved into the brand's history to create a platform that celebrated the founder's passion for travel and adventure. This was married with the second generation passion for sustainability and modern global cooking trends. The proposition 'Global Cuisine with Integrity' was born. My job as a Creative Director was to bring this proposition to life and oversee its development to the very final stages of the project.

The new logo captured the idea of nurturing communities while retaining the sun that sat in the name. Simplified colour palette created an opportunity to really own the golden yellow sunshine colour and make a bolder statement both on and off shelf.

We moved the brand away from the stereotypical and dated 'Asian' design cues, which allowed the brand to talk to their wider global portfolio and expand into exciting new products. The result was a shift to a more contemporary look and feel in the category that’s filled with traditional provenance.

©2024
alex.butenko@icloud.com