Fresh From The Field: Golden – By MAKEBARDO

Fresh from the field

Fresh From The Field: Golden – By MAKEBARDO

7 months ago by Iris Kalff

A bright, thoughtful brand identity by DA Friend MAKEBARDO for Golden, celebrating the power of honest ingredients through a visual language inspired by beehives, books, and the joy of a well-made drink.

Fresh from the Field is a weekly article series sharing fresh and inspiring work from the Design Assembly community. Want to submit your work to Fresh From The Field? Fill out the form here.

The brief

Golden is a low-cal soda sweetened with honey, flavoured with fruit. It offers a functional, healthy alternative to traditional soft drinks by pairing premium honey with locally sourced, nutrient-rich ingredients—avoiding refined sugars entirely. Golden isn’t just a drink; it is a celebration of what honest, hardworking ingredients can achieve and a reflection of New Zealand’s exceptional produce.

The design response

The design strategy captures the energetic spirit of a sweet drink while differentiating itself from standard “guilt-free” options. The visual identity is inspired by two distinct elements: beehives (representing quality beekeeping) and education (symbolised by book spines and the pursuit of knowledge about bees). Drawing on the stacking structure shared by both hives and books, the identity utilises lines as a primary visual tool. This creates a new, accessible design language that feels both premium and familiar, challenging stereotypes and moving beyond the binary of healthy vs. tasty.