NKD SKN is a topical self-tanning product. Its primary selling point is its claim as the first of its kind to be made from natural ingredients. I identified several points that could improve the user experience and make the product line more competitive to that of Coola, Tan-Luxe, and St. Tropez, elevating the product from sitting at the bottom shelf to commanding the retail display.
Leaning into the brand’s natural bent, the rebrand takes inspiration from the diversity of the natural world. As natural beings, we too come in all shapes and colors. Embracing this quality, the new direction widens the product line to include tanning lotions suitable for every skin tone.
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DISCLAIMER: Rebrand concept not affiliated with NKD SKN
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NKD SKN is a topical self-tanning product. Its primary selling point is its claim as the first of its kind to be made from natural ingredients. I identified several points that could improve the user experience and make the product line more competitive to that of Coola, Tan-Luxe, and St. Tropez, elevating the product from sitting at the bottom shelf to commanding the retail display.
Leaning into the brand’s natural bent, the rebrand takes inspiration from the diversity of the natural world. As natural beings, we too come in all shapes and colors. Embracing this quality, the new direction widens the product line to include tanning lotions suitable for every skin tone.
DISCLAIMER: Rebrand concept not affiliated with NKD SKN
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Many products, including NKD SKN, gravitated towards blues and tans, used color to diffrentiate within the product line to varied success, and were packaged in boxes or tubes. In order to change their position in the retail space, they need to do something different than their competition.
As I researched the beauty industry, I found that many companies had already solved the problem of catering to a variety of skin tones. They used numerical codes that locate the the tint and shade of a person’s skin within a gamut. But not many do it to the extent of Fenty Beauty. Fenty offers a color recommendation service, prompting the consumer fill out a questionaire that asks questions like what color ths consumer’s veins in their inner wrist are and even what color jewelry the consumer likes to wear.
A serif was chosen to pull the NKD SKN brand into the more premium market. The logotype is set in a modified parametric typeface, using its variability to represent human diversity.
The form development takes human-centered design literally. My driving visual concept was the emphasis on humanity as part of the natural world, not separate from it. I discovered an interesting photographic genre called bodyscapes, through the work of Rich Mulvey and Carl Warner. It blurs the line between landscapes and the human form. Their work inspired not only the ad campaign, but also the form of the bottles too, taking cues of the human form with its subtle curves and indentations.
Because of the needs of the end user, I felt it was important that the design was designed around the hand. I was constantly holding the forms as they would be held dispensing the product, trying to find the most intuitive spots for the form to curve or indent to afford a relaxed but confident grip. The result is a form that is both elegant and comfortable.
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I learned a lot through this project. I had never really sculpted anything, neither had I ventured much into anything resembling product design. It was a great challenge, but a welcome one.