Essentia Water
Brand Refresh
Essentia Water came to us as a 20-year-old specialty brand in Whole Foods with a powerful but under-leveraged advantage: it was scientifically proven to be twice as rehydrating as regular bottled water. As part of the brand team, I helped translate a robust strategic repositioning into a bold, disruptive visual system that broke category norms and repositioned Essentia as the unapologetic challenger in premium hydration.
Completed while Design Strategist at Voodoo Brands (formerly Retail Voodoo)
Package Design
Logo Design
Brand Identity
Branded Collateral
Brand Guidelines❋ Logo & Package DesignI contributed to the evolution of Essentia’s iconic E+ logo and the extension of the refreshed identity across the full packaging suite, including single bottles, multi-packs and retail shippers. Breaking away from category clichés of blue colors and water droplet graphics, we created a bold, high-contrast system that reinforced Essentia’s “Overachieving H2O” positioning and made it unmistakable on shelf.
❋ Brand GuidelinesI helped codify the evolved visual identity into comprehensive brand guidelines, translating packaging elements into scalable systems for typography, photography, iconography, color usage, and graphic language. This ensured internal teams and partners could consistently execute the brand as it expanded nationally.
❋ Branded Environment & CollateralI extended the packaging system into retail graphics, displays, OOH, website assets, and social design, ensuring a cohesive and unmistakable presence across every consumer touchpoint. The work helped Essentia show up as a modern performance brand, reinforcing its ionized, overachieving credentials in both physical and digital environments.
❋ The ResultsThe refreshed brand system helped drive 184% growth over 52 weeks, positioning Essentia as the #1 alkaline water brand sold nationally. Four years later, the brand was acquired by Nestlé, solidifying its transformation from specialty challenger to category leader.
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