Featured image for Mastering the Art of the Redesign with Flood Creative

Mastering the Art of the Redesign with Flood Creative

by Theresa Christine Johnson on 11/08/2017 | 8 Minute Read

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A brand or packaging redesign is an art form. Successfully done, it takes the core of the company turns it into something familiar yet totally fresh. Strategic Partner Renee Whitworth and Chief Creative Officer Stuart Whitworth of Flood Creative offer some advice on how agencies and designers can give brands a makeover, plus we take a closer look at some of their recent redesigns.

When a brand comes to you in need of a refresh, what are your first steps when working with them?

Renee Whitworth: The first step is to listen. What are the instincts the client(s) have? Are they coming from a place of frustration? Fear? Excitement? Is the change inspired by consumer input or a corporate initiative? It is an exercise in self-control for me, having 20 years of brand design experience it's tempting to jump in and judge with your eyes. Ears should come first!

How do you determine which elements of the original design to keep or modify, versus which ones you change completely?

Stuart Whitworth: It really depends on how each element is contributing to the brand. I’ve had clients think they needed a new name but it actually just needed to be reframed. And I’ve had other clients mandate almost everything remain as-is and realize quickly the design was more attractive but not going to move the needle with consumers. Each designer on my team will solve the objectives differently, so we brief with as little preconceptions as possible.

How can designers seamlessly incorporate new design elements with the ones that stay with a brand during this redesign process?

Renee Whitworth: I don’t think there is one way to make changes, but I do think the change should speak for itself. Color shifts can make a big change in brand impression. So can photography. Even just a change in the way current elements on the pack are arranged can disrupt the thought process of a consumer and cause them to re-evaluate what they are seeing.

What is one of the biggest challenges you have encountered in a redesign, and how did you tackle it?

Renee Whitworth: Being a brand consultant can feel like being a therapist. Who on the team is out to launch their career with a big splash—could be on the agency or client side? Who is just ‘managing up’? How much do you influence with well-intended advice and when is it time to step back and shut up? The design process is like a soul search on many levels.

What is the most powerful tool designers have when working on a redesign?

Stuart Whitworth: Empathy over ego. I learned way more from the humble mentors that I had early in my career.


Case Studies

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Heavenly Organics

Heavenly Organics proves that organic food can still be a sweet treat with their products like fresh honey, unrefined sugar, and chocolatey desserts. The outstanding, rich color choices make the brand pop, instantly grabbing the consumer’s attention. Fine details, like the ornate border around the brand name, echo southeast Asian decor—reminding us all that the body is a temple and we can treat it as such even when indulging.

Flood Creative made many changes to the brand. In its earlier version, the serif font choice, faded hues, and illustrations of the countryside made it look particularly dated. To make their organic offerings appeal to a wider audience and give the brand a modern edge, the redesign gives off a vibrancy and beauty that healthy eating is all about.

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Before & After

Restore

Before getting a Flood Creative makeover, Restore looked like a supplement you had to take, not something you actually wanted to take. The copywriting, graphics, and font feel uninspiring and lack the spark that will make a consumer stop and want to pull it from the shelf.

The new layout alone makes it seem exponentially more appetizing—the colors are crisp and fresh, the font feels new and modern, and the purpose of the product is clear with simple copywriting in a checklist form. The bottle shape and cap are unique as well. They don’t call attention to themselves, but they certainly shape opinions that Restore is something used for healthy living. Geometric graphics also make it feel like it’s come from a lab or straight from the doctor, which is perfect for people who want to be well and trust in science.

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Before & After

Living Juice

Living Juice makes some seriously good-for-you beverages. But before their redesign, their packaging seemed to lack clarity. Extraneous amounts of text, a variety of fonts, colors, and graphics made it a bit of a complicated journey for the consumer.

Living Juice is about healthy, cold-pressed juices made from 100% natural ingredients—no extra sugars, no hard-to-pronounce fillers. So Flood Creative stayed true to the mission of the brand and cleaned up the label, highlighting what Living Juice is all about. Large images of the mouthwatering fruits and veggies take center stage, and the natural colors (of the images and the juice itself) stand out against a matte black label. Additionally, the bottle shape looks less angular, softening its appearance and making it feel more contemporary.

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GENESISToday

GENESISToday looks like a perfect blend of nature and science to achieve optimal health. The line of supplements has loads of superfoods, probiotics, antioxidants, and more that can help support your daily nutrition. To highlight the natural goodness of the brand, the “Gt” stands out against a white background with bright, colorful fruits and veggies. Its clean look speaks to the pure ingredients that go into the product.

One of the most effective additions to the packaging is a clear, easily noticed statement on what the supplement will do for the consumer. Before the redesign, buyers could tell what they were purchasing—Acai or Goji, for example—but it wasn’t exactly clear what the purpose of each product was. By adding in short blurbs like “Supports Weight Management” or “Supports a Positive Mood,” they made GENESIStoday more accessible.  

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Before & After

Four Sigmatic

Four Sigmatic has a unique and varied line of products, include elixir, hot cocoa, and coffee mixes. The thing that connects them? Mushrooms.

To unify the brand, Flood Creative gave them a solid identity with a common font and layout that would help discern each item, while also giving Four Sigmatic the option to expand. Their previous design looked like just about any other tea or coffee company, but the redesign helps them truly stand out. It feels fresh and it instantly lets consumers know what’s so special and different about this particular beverage. Playful icons add a lot of personality to the brand, and the bolder colors exude the energy and feelings each product helps produce.

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Before & After

Upload

With an endless amount of beverage options out there, it was vital for Upload to stand out. With this redesign, a label that covers nearly the entire bottle was utilized, giving Flood Creative plenty of space to create something appealing. Using images of the mouthwatering ingredients, each beverage feels exotic and tropical. Rather than going for over-the-top, insanely saturated hues, the darker color palette gives it a more mature appearance—making it a perfect flavorful drink for those who aren’t looking for sodas or juice boxes.

Flood Creative kept the brand name’s look similar, adding in some texture and grit that feels more personable and in touch with nature. It provides just enough recognition that any current customers would notice it without feeling alienated.