Evolved a newly established plant brand from a juvenile aesthetic into a modern, giftable adult line—building a refreshed visual system across a wide and varied product lineup.

The Problem

Beanstalk had a brand direction established by a freelancer that leaned heavily into childlike typography and illustration. It worked for the kids' products—but the brand was expanding into adult plant kits, fertilizers, soils, and more, and the existing aesthetic wasn't the right fit. The logo stayed. The direction needed to mature without abandoning the products already in production.

What I Did

Evolved the color palette, typography, and illustration style to feel modern and giftable—the kind of thing an adult buys for themselves or wraps for a friend. Rather than overhauling everything at once, the two directions ran in parallel: the original childlike style was retained for the children's plant kits, hydroponic fertilizers, coco coir, and soil topping fertilizer where packaging was already established, while the refreshed system was developed and applied to the adult-facing product line.

The most involved work in the new direction was the adult plant kit line: five kits each required fully custom boxes, custom-illustrated seed packets, and instruction booklets—every element designed and illustrated within the refreshed system. Beyond the kits, the new system was applied across fertilizers, three specialty houseplant soils, two sizes of live worms, and a 42-seed heirloom collection with simple sticker labels and an extensive planting booklet.

Every product in the lineup—across both visual directions—received a full suite of Amazon assets: PDP images, A+ content, and storefront assets, all designed to translate the packaging system into a cohesive eCommerce presence. Templates were built for consistency and scalability across the full catalog.

Photography was a significant part of the engagement—over seven months I art directed three separate shoots, working closely with the photographer to develop detailed shot lists, run-of-show plans, and prop sourcing to ensure every image felt consistent with the updated brand direction.

Beyond packaging and photography, I collaborated with a freelance developer on the brand's DTC website and worked with the marketing team to develop a social media presence across Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest—creating assets, filming organic content, and helping establish a consistent posting framework for the brand.

Result

Between February and August 2021, the refreshed brand system was applied across 19+ products spanning fertilizers, plant kits, soils, and more—each with packaging, eCommerce assets, and photography developed within the same cohesive system. The range of product types, touchpoints, and parallel visual directions was a real test of the system's flexibility, and it held.