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 Challenge

The aesthetic needed to grow up

Beanstalk had a brand direction established by a freelancer that worked well for its children-focused products but wasn't the right fit for where the brand was going. The expanding lineup—adult plant kits, fertilizers, soils, live worms, a seed bank—needed a visual system that felt modern and giftable. The logo stayed. Everything else needed to grow up, without abandoning the products already in production.

What I Did

Built both directions in parallel

The refreshed direction evolved the color palette, typography, and illustration style into something that felt considered and adult—the kind of thing someone buys for themselves or wraps for a friend. The original style was retained for the children's kits and existing products where packaging was already established, so both directions ran in parallel throughout the project.

The most involved work was the adult plant kit line. Each of the five kits required a fully custom box, custom-illustrated seed packets, and an instruction booklet—every element designed and illustrated within the refreshed system. The illustration suite spanned graphic silhouettes, hand-drawn linework, and badge-style iconography, unified by a consistent color palette and a warm, approachable feel. Each kit included a hand-drawn plant drawing, a graphic plant rendering, iconography, seed packet illustrations, and drawings of every included item. The fertilizers, soils, seed banks, and worms each got their own graphic illustrations too.

I built detailed shot lists and run-of-show plans for three separate shoots over seven months, working closely with the photographer to ensure every image felt consistent with the brand direction. Prop sourcing and photographer direction were part of my scope across the full product lineup.

Beyond packaging, I collaborated with a freelance developer on the brand's DTC website and developed a social media presence across Instagram and Pinterest, creating assets and establishing a consistent posting framework.

Result

A system flexible enough to hold it all together

Over seven months, the refreshed brand system was applied across 13 products and 21 SKUs—each with packaging, Amazon assets, and photography developed within the same cohesive system. The range of product types was significant: plant kits, fertilizers, specialty soils, live worms, a 42-seed heirloom collection. As the only creative on the project, I owned every touchpoint from illustration through eCommerce.