CORNISH consultancy Creative Direction, based at Lanhydrock, Bodmin, has created the identity, packaging and website for a new crisp brand, Lusty Pirate, which will appear in Tesco next year.

The name Lusty Pirate was chosen by Creative Direction from a shortlist of proposals and a brief was then developed to create a brand with dual appeal for adults and children. This was interpreted through a pirate character.

The packs feature a cartoon pirate on the front and one of four different Cornish legends on the back.

Artistic director David Major said the aim was to give the packs a sense of the crisps' Cornish heritage without resorting to clichéd images or photos of potatoes and the ingredients.

Silver foil on the packaging is left unprinted in places to render the metallic objects in the design. Major said: "There is a real attention to detail and we showed that through an illustrative cartoon route. For the child it is a cartoon pirate, and for the adult the graffiti style is a bit more edgy."

Lusty Pirate is owned by Cornish hotelier Sharon Parker who approached Creative Direction in July, based on the strength of the consultancy's branding and packaging work for numerous household names.

Cornish pasty flavour will be released initially and vegetarian pasty will follow – the crisps launch on February 15 at Tesco. They will subsequently be available at The West Cornwall Pasty Company, Rick Stein's, St Petroc's Hotel and other discerning outlets.

Lusty Pirate is a new brand of hand-cooked, Cornish pasty flavour crisps.

Using Cornish potatoes whenever the season allows, the crisps are hand-cooked, skin on, in sunflower oil which makes them crunchy but not so much as to scratch your mouth and are left to dry longer than most resulting in a generally lower fat content.

Packaged in brightly coloured, strikingly designed 40g bags, the strong brand identity will stand out from the crowd giving the product "shelf appeal" and the 40g bag has been chosen to be big enough to share but not too big to be eaten alone in public.

The theme continues on the reverse of the packet, with four Cornish legends including King Arthur, the Giant of St Michael's Mount, the mermaid of Zennor and Morgawr, the Falmouth sea monster.

Suitable for vegetarians and coeliacs, these crisps will appeal to young and old alike, since practically everyone knows of the Cornish pasty because it was recently revealed to be the second most recognised regional food in the UK.