Consistency and stringency are still considered a panacea when it comes to visually bracketing many different SKUs in a product range. But is that always the right path to ideal packaging design?

At Higgins, we believe that breaking down static approaches into dynamic design concepts is key to successful brand and category decoding at the POS. In the end, it's not just about creating a strong brand bracket, but about serving the visual habits in a respective product category.

Recently, the team was commissioned by German premium lemonade manufacturer FZ Getränke to redesign their extensive range of non-alcoholic beverages. The goal was to bring the large range under one visual umbrella, create visibility on the shelf, and stand out independently from the competition. Although a certain recognizability to the current equipment was desired, it was not to be an evolutionary relaunch.

Higgins created many completely independent designs that serve the respective category - and go beyond a mere product illustration. Illustrative storytelling was key - a creative tool that brings the entire product diversity into a contemporary image, whether it's an energy drin, fruit spritzer or a classic lemonade. Each variety has its very specific, individual illustration style as a central brand element.

Advocates of stringency may ask, where does that leave the brand? The answer is that in this case, it was perfectly sufficient to achieve recognition via the iconic brand logo and a layout system divided into tiles.

As a result, the FZ team reports that the individual products are better recognized and decoded by the customers in the market than in the past.

‍