Context:
BANANA BEAUTY is a fun and bold D2C makeup brand from Berlin founded in 2018. I joined the team in 2019, as they reached 1 year old, with the brand still in its infancy: aside from the name, a bold logo, and a yellow stripe, there was no solid brand guideline.
The marketing teams of four countries were struggling to use the brand on a daily basis, and as the brand got ready to start expanding the product line, the product team needed a clear creative direction. They needed an Organizing Idea, that could state what the brand stood for, underpinning every communication that emanates from the marketing department, and a visual vocabulary that could articulate it.
And then, not even what they already had in place could be used anymore: the existing logo suddenly had to be altered for legal reasons. That alone would entail a huge overhaul in visual assets, as everything on their website would need to be redone or retouched in 2 months. It was the right moment to not just redo but improve all assets.
Solution:
Starting from their own name, I set out to answer a recurring question they faced: after all, why Banana Beauty? What does "banana" have to do with "beauty"? The answer became their new tagline: because "Fun is Beautiful. Go Bananas!". Moving away from old beauty standards, make up is embraced as a mean of self-expression.
Working directly with Astrid Jensch, the co-founder, I realigned their mission and vision, and created the brand pillars (Fun, Bold, and Real), which guided the expansion of the visual identity. The logo, repeated in patterns and ribbons, mixes with cheeky photos and messy swatches from the products to create an urban and playful look and feel.