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Mudge is a comprehensive food & beverage branding agency. We partner with CPG entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who want to break new ground with a distinctive brand that intuitively connects with their perfect customer.
Kelly Mudge Criswell–a leading expert in food & beverage branding–brings 20+ years of experience and the spirit of innovation to every partnership.
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A frequent speaker at CPG industry events such as BevNet Live, NOSH, and Natural Products Expo, Kelly has served as a judge at BevNet’s New Beverage Showdown and a mentor at Expo West’s Pitch Slam competition. She’s been an advisor and mentor to emerging CPG brands, packaging designers, and creative directors alike.

When she’s not obsessively taking photos of grocery store displays, you can find her painting or hiking the hills of LA with her family. If you catch her in October–any day in October–she will be in costume.

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What to expect working with Mudge:

30% Creative Alchemy + 30% Brand Strategy + 30% Food & Beverage Insights + 5% Mom Jokes + 5% Halloween Costumes

Team Mudge

Kelly Criswell, Founder, Principal - B/W card image
Kelly Criswell, Founder, Principal - full color card image

Kelly Criswell

Founder, Principal

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: I stopped counting after 20.
Notable previous projects or clients: Nestle, Pepsi, Kraft-Heinz, Dunkin Donuts… but the most fun have been the smaller brands: Doozy Pots, Happy Moose, NOPE, Fringe.
Areas of expertise:

CPG food & beverage brand strategy and packaging design.

Ingredients
Astrological superpower: Sag/Cap cusp, so I’m pathologically passionate and stubbornly persistent.
Favorite types of project: I love working with innovators creating new categories or disrupting existing ones.
Favorite drink and/or snack: Kombucha all day.
Favorite Halloween candy: Candy corn. Fight me.
Outside of work: I like to hike, paint, discover new foods, stroll grocery aisles taking pictures, loudly embarrass my kids, read while pretending to watch my family play video games, make inappropriate jokes, wear costumes.

Kelly

Founder, Principal

Dan Palacios, Design Director - B/W card image
Dan Palacios, Design Director - full color card image

Dan Palacios

Design Director

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: 15
Notable previous projects or clients: Drumstick, Hallmark, Pepsi
Areas of expertise:

Branding, packaging, hand lettering, calligraphy, danimation

Ingredients
Astrological superpower: I’m a Virgo so I’m always looking at the details and trying really hard to be perfect, which is a blessing and a curse.
Favorite types of project: Brand/Identity development, logo design, packaging and anything that involves beautiful typography.
Favorite drink and/or snack: Pizza all day, errday 🍕
Favorite Halloween candy: KitKat
Outside of work: You can find me in the kitchen trying new recipes, making pizzas, telling dad jokes, hanging out with my family, traveling or working on my fitness 💪

Dan

Design Director

Kristen Scalise, Account Director - B/W card image
Kristen Scalise, Account Director - full color card image

Kristen Scalise

Account Director

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: 12 years
Notable previous projects or clients: Anheuser Busch, SC Johnson, PepsiCo, Möet Hennessy, Diageo, JuneShine, United Sodas of America
Areas of expertise:
  • Project Management: I build a mean timeline and my straight forward communication style keeps everyone up to date on the process without any Fluff
  • Strategy: Brand and Innovation Strategy, Consumer Insights, Go to Market Strategy, Start Up Brand Building, Experiential Marketing, Social Media and Influencer Strategy
Ingredients
Astrological superpower: My astrological superpower is incredibly direct communication and a passion for planning and organizing. Virgo Life is real over here! While I’m a grounded earth sun and rising, my aquarius moon keeps me in touch with catering to the needs of our clients
Favorite types of project: I love working on any project that has a mission for a better world. Brands that are vegan, sustainable, 1% for the planet, etc.. make my heart sing!
Favorite drink and/or snack: My favorite snack is definitely All Y’all’s Vegan Jerky and my fave drink would probably be Della Calle Tepache
Favorite Halloween candy: Sour Patch Kids all day!
Outside of work: When I am not working I am probably training for a race (I do a RunDisney race every year!), skateboarding, hiking, gardening, doing yoga, reading a book, volunteering with a non-profit or cooking vegan versions of my favorite Italian Classics.

Kristen

Account Director

Regina Rivas, Senior Designer - B/W card image
Regina Rivas, Senior Designer - full color card image

Regina Rivas

Senior Designer

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: Working hard since 2018!
Notable previous projects or clients: Branding for the restaurants in hotel Unico 20 87 in Vallarta, México. The packaging redesign for the products of a brand named DeliCo in Guadalajara (which is about to launch), the branding and naming of a famous restaurant in Puebla named Baya Sagrada, and many others. And some other small projects in the US, such as the branding and naming of a logistics brand called NextStop and the rebranding and identity of The Fieldhouse in Texas.
Areas of expertise:

Branding design, specially for food and beverage brands. I also love photography and illustration.

Ingredients
Astrological superpower: I’m a virgo, so I guess my superpower is that I can organize everything in order to finish everything on time (sometimes with a panic attack).
Favorite types of project: I love fun projects! I guess that’s why I love to work on food and beverage brands! I love to design brand identities and all the elements around the logo and brand personality.
Favorite drink and/or snack: Mango smoothies and red wine. I also love everything spicy! (the spicier the better)
Favorite Halloween candy: I love everything that has white chocolate on it and obviously spicy mexican candy.
Outside of work: I like to travel a lot and take photos of beautiful places. I also love to play board games and cards, I have a big collection of games and I like to discover new ones.

Regina

Senior Designer

Alejandra Frías, Senior Designer - B/W card image
Alejandra Frías, Senior Designer - full color card image

Alejandra Frías aka Baby Flames

Senior Designer

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: 7 years
Notable previous projects or clients: The branding for the ice cream shop Buttercream; branding for the creative agency Sinertegia in Guadalajara where I was the Creative Director for 2 years; packaging design for gummy vitamins SULUU, and many others.
Areas of expertise:

Branding design and some UI design. I also love motion graphics and illustration.

Ingredients
Astrological superpower: I’m an Aquarius, so I think my superpower is to make other people laugh and do some crazy ideas for the designs.
Favorite types of project: I enjoy working with disruptive projects that are out of the norm because I like to experiment with different styles and techniques.
Favorite drink and/or snack: I love ice cream with all my heart. I can eat it every day and for drink, boba milk tea is a must.
Favorite Halloween candy: Chocolate, especially PonPons (Mexican chocolate brand)
Outside of work: I like to walk with my dog and make new friends, go to the movie theater (at least one or two times a week), go to concerts, and travel to new places.

Baby Flames

Senior Designer

Yaritsa Arenas, Production & Strategy Partner - B/W card image
Yaritsa Arenas, Production & Strategy Partner - full color card image

Yaritsa Arenas

Production & Strategy Partner

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: More than I care to admit!
Notable previous projects or clients: Brand Strategy, Messaging, Packaging Production.
Ingredients
Astrological superpower: I’m fiercely loyal and unnecessarily dramatic.
Favorite types of project: I love highly collaborative projects with brands that are seeking to make an impact.
Favorite drink and/or snack: Tea with Honey (all day every day!)
Favorite Halloween candy: Snickers Minis
Outside of work: Travel whenever possible and learning new languages (currently French & ASL)

Yari

Production & Strategy Partner

Jeremy Glass, Head of Copy - B/W card image
Jeremy Glass, Head of Copy - full color card image

Jeremy Glass

Head of Copy

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: Doing the dang-doodily-thing since 2011
Notable previous projects or clients: The Stir by Drizly, Grady’s Cold Brew, Amelia Island x Travel + Leisure, Natural Light, DoorDash, Every Man Jack, Marmalade.
Areas of expertise:

Creative writing, editing, brand strategy, social media.

Ingredients
Astrological superpower: I can insert an obscure Simpsons reference into literally any situation.
Favorite types of project: I like it when clients are willing to get a little weird. Like Kids in the Hall circa 1992 weird.
Favorite drink and/or snack: Sparkling water, pitted olives, kimchi, and pickles. Doctors say my blood is poison!
Favorite Halloween candy: Candy corn — which I eat all year round, you COWARDS!
Outside of work: Running, cooking, gardening, reading about various world wars, and spending time with my objectively stunning wife and kids.

Jeremy

Head of Copy

Partner, Intern - B/W card image
Partner, Intern - full color card image

Partner

Intern

Nutrition Facts
Years of experience: Chewing Sticks (and mom’s shoes) for almost two years
Notable previous projects or clients: The great disappearing pie crust of 2022, Philadelphia Street Cat Patrol.
Areas of expertise:

Snuggling, Snoring, Mid-meeting Zoomies.

Ingredients
Astrological superpower: Can master a new trick in just one day.
Favorite types of project: Ones that let me taste test.
Favorite drink and/or snack: Anything with peanut butter.
Favorite Halloween candy: More peanut butter please.
Outside of work: Mostly naps, walks in the park and barking at squirrels.

Partner

Intern

Our Ethos

Big ideas, every time.
Every first round of creative will include a category- disrupting idea. No boring solutions. We guarantee it.
We tell the truth.
We have a point-of-view and we’re not afraid to use it. Let’s explore new angles and perspectives. Let’s thoughtfully and strategically shatter conventions.
We listen.
Ever work with a partner who is just waiting for their turn to talk? That’s not us. We’re invested in your success, and nobody knows your business better than you do.
We discover, visualize and amplify.
This is our jam: discovering the authentic heart & soul of your brand, and communicating that with visuals that are truly unique.
Solutions for the small but mighty.
We love our big brand partners. But nothing is better than passionate founders killing it in the marketplace. So we’ve built customized solutions for even the smallest startup.

Mudge with SpecialGuest:

We have a powerful sibling company called SpecialGuest.co. Mudge plugs in seamlessly with SpecialGuest for creative strategy and development of video, experiential and interactive campaigns.

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