New York branding and digital agency Avec has designed the brand and packaging for direct-to-consumer skincare start-up Care, showcasing the simple and effective product line. 
 
Working closely with the Care team, Avec strategically designed every aspect of the brand identity, including messaging, packaging, website design and development, copywriting and art direction.
 
The U.S. beauty and personal care sector was estimated to be worth $89 billion in 2018, with the influence of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, experiential retail and independent brands growing constantly.

Camillia BenBassat, founder and creative director of Avec, says: “Our challenge was to cut through the noise in the crowded market and really make an impact with a superb new range that offers complex formulas with a simple routine.”

Luxe Designs for the Bathroom Shelf
  
The designs created for the Care range reflect the brand attributes: the products are honest, straightforward and effective. The stripped-back and modern, yet refined composition reflects both the simplicity of the daily routine and the advanced approach to the product formulations.

The primary Care color palette is a combination of navy and mauve. BenBassat adds: “We wanted to reflect the sophistication of the products themselves, so while we selected a unique, ownable palette, we also wanted to keep the colors neutral enough to be featured on anyone’s bathroom shelf.”

As a new to market startup, Avec aimed to make Care’s packaging feel as luxe as possible whilst keeping within the budget constraints.

BenBassat says: “We worked in tandem with both the packaging company and clients to ensure a cohesive selection of components that sustain the brand story and would be able to live up to our quality expectations. Simple choices, such as screen-printing the designs instead of attaching labels, elevate the finish and help the packaging feel as considered as possible.”

To avoid waste, Avec did away with the need for a secondary outer shipping box. BenBassat says: “The shipping boxes were designed to leave ample space for any labels and still stand out in the mail with a large logo, a distinct color and cheeky messaging.”

Reflecting the Brand Story

Avec also developed a larger visual language for partners to implement across all touchpoints from social media to marketing campaigns. This included a brand toolkit and guidelines that present the brand story and its design to guide future applications across platforms.
  
Pilar Quintero at Care says: “It takes something special to make an impact in a sector as crowded as beauty. We had great confidence in our products, but to succeed in the competitive DTC space we knew we needed a brand identity that was as compelling and beautiful as the Care range itself. Avec has given us exactly that.”