Immerse yourself in a natural beauty experience with Antjie's! Antjie's is one of South Africa's largest producers of artisan non-specific cosmetics* made with natural ingredients. Antjie's is a female brand and is mostly supported by the middle class.
*Non-specific cosmetics are things like bath soap, lotion and bath salt. Specific cosmetics are things like skin lightening creams, peal off face masks and makeup.
Project manifesto, written July 2020.
South African consumers are currently underwhelmed by the professional, natural non-specific cosmetics market. They face a humdrum of hyper simplistic brand and packaging designs. This is not what the far majority of consumers in this market want and it does not entertain their imaginations.
I strayed from the current fashion and designed an immersive and abundant experience. Designs that celebrate nature, joy and beauty. Illustrations with soft organic lines, but a clear joyful energy. Designs that are not a pretentious elitism and that give the consumer what she really wants, visual abundance. However, style and proper designing with good principles remained fundamental.
One can see how the consumers' faces light up when they experience the new Antjie's brand. Bringing aesthetic joy to the consumer is a strong benefit for a brand. Especially in the tough times which we are currently facing, consumers will rush to a brand that offers them an escape and happiness. This can be seen in Design History. During the Inter War Period consumers strongly preferred joyful styles like Art Deco above Bauhaus, which only gained commercial ground after the wars and some economic growth.
The above mentioned phenomenon, brought by the pandemic and tough times we are in, might be a catalyst for the move away from the current graphic design style of hyper simplicity. I believe the move away has started to slowly gain ground in the past year or two. Design styles or fashions reach their end when aesthetic conservative entities, such as large corporations, adapt to the style. This is currently what is happening with the graphic design fashion of simplicity and hyper simplicity.
The end of a hyper simplistic style, which does not happen over night, is the start of a visually abundant style/fashion. Antjie's new visually abundant, maybe even populist, style can make Antjie's a trend setter, a commercially successful one that captures the new desires of consumers just in time.
Furthermore; having a joyful, immersive and visually abundant brand in between a plethora of hyper simplistic and stern brands will definitely make Antjie's stand out of the crowd.
The fruit for baobab trees and citrus are packed with Vitamin C. Vit C has an endless list of cosmetic benefits including skin lightening and skin health. The scent also makes people happy.
Rose geranium (a fragrant South African plant), rose hip and pink clay are famous for their skin rejuvenating properties.
Rooibos is a popular tea and also a cosmetic super star! It is packed with anti-oxidants and antibacterial properties helping you achieve clear skin with clean pores. Beauty tip: rooibos and rosemary works well in combating zits!
Charcoal is well known for its deep cleansing and detoxification properties. Charcoal has become a very popular and sought after cosmetic ingredient in South Africa. This is why the first word is charcoal and not something emotive, like in the other soap packaging designs.
Mustard bath is a popular remedy against sore muscles. Tip: it also makes you feel much better when having a cold or flu. Climb out of the bath the new, happy you.
Honey is a great moisturiser. Fynbos is one of the six floristic regions of the world. It is the world's smallest and richest and can only be found in two provinces in South Africa. Fynbos honey is a powerful honey with many natural benefits.
Lavender and goat milk are great ingredients for soothing sensitive skin types. Real lavender is also an all time favourite for many people.
Fragrance free soap are for people with very allergic skin types. Aloe vera is a South African succulent that is amazing for the skin. It is a good moisturiser and soother, helping allergic skin types even more.
Olive oil delivers an an abundant and luxurious lather. It is also soft and gentle.
You will make my day if you like this project! Thanks for watching!
Published with permission from Antjie's Handmade Naturals who owns this project.
Special thanks to Robert Cohnen for his wise and insightful branding advice. The foot soap design was created by Emmerentia Ferreira.
