Mexico meets Japan across AH Work’s colourful identity for Salsa Mutua — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Graphic & Brand Design
Salsa Mutua is a Mexican brand of ‘crispy chilli oil made with salsa and chilli crisp. “We had an initial idea of a name for the sauce: ‘Rayito.’ But we quickly learned that this name was going to be impossible to register as a trademark,” Founders Sebastian and Alejandro tell us. The name they landed on instead comes from the Spanish ‘mutuo,’ meaning something reciprocal between two parts, or something balanced. “It can also be something like a shared experience, like sharing a meal,” they note. “Sebastian’s brother suggested chilli crisp. We noticed the parallelism with that and figured out the similarities with the Asian chilli crisp and the Mexican salsa macha. That is when we decided to create the ‘first Mexican Chili Crisp.’”
With the name settled, they commissioned Mexico City-based creative office AH Work, led by Andrés Higueros, to design the identity. “We really liked Andrés’ work,” the founders explain, “especially because we noticed that he had worked on many projects that involved typeface design.” The references Higueros worked from for the identity are Mexican and Japanese, as Salsa Mutua is built on both Mexican and Asian cooking. “The name became the starting point: the idea of exchange, of different ingredients and cultural influences coming together to create something new. That gave us a world to build through the two cats, the custom lettering and the colour combinations,” he details. “We started by looking at the local market and noticed that many sauce brands relied on similar visual cues: chilli illustrations, flames and familiar Mexican imagery. We wanted to move beyond those conventions and tell a story specific to Mutua,” he continues. “On the shelf, we wanted Mutua to feel bold, playful and distinctive, with a personality that would draw people in and make them curious about the sauces.”
SALSA is set in Compacta Black Poster. “I drew the MUTUA wordmark from scratch. I was interested in the curved endings of certain Japanese characters and explored how that quality could inform the contours and terminals of the Latin letterforms. Those subtle curves sit within bold, substantial shapes, drawing on the visual strength of Mexican hand-painted signage,” Higueros tells us. “The vertical composition was another deliberate choice, referencing vertical writing in Japanese,” he notes. American Grotesk, restrained and functional, sets the descriptions and supporting information. “Compacta brings the weight and immediate impact I wanted for the main headlines,” he explains. “The system also allows the lettering to be stretched horizontally or vertically, giving the typography an expressive, adaptable role within each composition.”
“The cats came from a fairly intuitive place. I liked how endearing they were and how familiar they felt in the everyday world of markets and small shops in both Mexico and Japan. The Japanese lucky cat was also a reference I had in mind, so they felt like a natural connection between the two cultures,” Higueros reveals. “Within Mutua’s world, the striped cat represents the Mexican side, while the plain-coated cat, with its more serious expression, represents the Japanese side. Their contrasting personalities gave me a way to express cultural exchange through the relationship between two characters.” Higueros drew the pair in different poses and activities. “Because of Mexican labelling norms, we cannot show them in the primary packaging,” Sebastian and Alejandro tell us. “Nevertheless, we would like to include them in the packaging targeted to international markets. Right now, we still use them on our website, stickers, merch and presentations.”
“I used the ingredients as a starting point for each colour pairing,” Higueros notes of the four labels, “but the main intention was always to create something bold and eye-catching.” The Chili Crisp Original label is yellow and red, and the Chili Crisp Extra Picante label is orange and brown. The other two names pair a Mexican chilli with an Asian place – Morita Siam in pale pink, Habanero Katong in yellow and red.
The images are by Mexico City-based photographer Alberto Pinto – a friend who Higueros has worked with on projects before. Adrián Zarraga, who he has also collaborated with, made the motion graphics. “I led the art direction, aiming for an urban, market-inspired atmosphere with an editorial sensibility. I wanted to move away from the polished commercial imagery often used by food brands and bring Mutua closer to the street and the everyday environments that inspired its identity. The photography gave us a way to place the packaging within that broader world,” Higueros explains. “For the motion graphics, my direction was to bring the identity to life through animation, extending its playful character beyond the printed labels.”