Airplus Rebrand
Over 1 year of work: 35 products over 2 phases, 6 months of review and revision, 3 months of inevitable “final changes”, 3 months of review of factory samples during the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is the largest project I’ve ever undertaken and I’m so proud of my final results. This new paper only packaging* was an initiative started by Walmart for the insole lines sold there. Our goal was to effectively work with packaging engineers to develop the cleanest look for this departure from the usual blister packaging, and then bring the airplus line into the modern times.
*Gel products don’t do well in paper packaging, so an exception was made to preserve the quality of the gel insoles as a product.
Process Stage
This project was kicked off in December of 2018 by having every designer in our department create a base “rebrand” concept and present it to our sales team who would narrow down the selection.
I and Chelsea Rae had a combination of elements that the sales team liked, while our boss Joey Hurdle was able to craft the final logo modification. after a few more revisions and meetings, I was tasked with finalizing this and then overtaking the design process for the whole line.
In that process, this included scraping the initial design the team liked in favor of a simpler transition from the old packaging to this update, primarily with color choices.
The goals moving forward were pretty simple at this point:
Finalize and made design adjustments to paper only packaging that can be applied to blister or box packaging as needs arise.
Modernize the airplus logo
Simplify the embellishments on old packaging
Apply across the full line of products
While juggling issues our initial package engineer who we had to go back and forth several times to get the closures and fit just right, I was also faced with trying to confirm the front panel rotations to get the text to sit vertically when it’s placed on the hook in stores.
Ultimately, this project provided many challenges that made the finished product feel even sweeter to fully realize.
Final Design
The below shows the final product: Phase 1 (mostly) paper only packaging. We had 4 products that contain gel, which causes an oily stain on the paper packaging and being exposed as much as they would be they would become filthy if allowed in stores and would ultimately lead to a bad product. So in the cases of these products, for now, we were allowed to proceed with the original blister packaging.
I love having gotten to work on a project that helped promote consciousness for plastic waste in our packaging in the US. It feels good to be apart of moving forward in regards to these kinds of issues, even if the impact is simple in the change.
I feel like these packaging achieved the goals we set out at the beginning and I’m very proud of the final results.