Sweet Efflorescence

Homemade elderberry tonic boosting immunity. Bloom Empowered.

Project Type: Brand Identity & Package Design

Designer: Neil Shastri

Product Photography: Kate Grubbs

Tools: Adobe Illustrator & InDesign

In 2019, Atlanta-based entrepreneur, Stephanie Beecham joined the wellness industry with her recipe for elderberry tonic. Manufactured out of a community kitchen in Edgewood, Atlanta, this delicious syrup is packed with vitamins and healthy antioxidants that can be taken daily to positively impact our health. Stephanie approached me with the task to create her new brand identity and packaging for her immune-boosting new product.

STOCKED IN ATLANTA, GA MARKETS

THE PRODUCT

Elderberry Syrup

Not many people know about elderberry syrup and its positive effects. Therefore, we discovered early on that there was a strong need for us to develop a brand identity for Sweet Efflorescence that helped its customers learn about this new type of product and the positive effects it has on our bodies and immune systems.

During the discovery phase, we learned that Stephanie wanted the brand identity to visually pay tribute to the ingredients in her elderberry syrup. Initially, we thought about featuring photos of the ingredients on the packaging, similar to many products found in the grocery store. However, because of Stephanie's background and education as a designer, we wanted her brand presence to honor her creative side and develop packaging and an identity that is elevated, ultimately catching the eyes of shoppers in the market.

With this in mind, we landed on a color palette that features light and dark purples inspired by the juicy elderberries and a golden yellow for the sweet honey. We loved how this looked and even more so, how it pays tribute to the natural ingredients found in the elderberry syrup.

As Stephanie grows her business and adds products where the ingredients may differ, we determined that the product packaging layout could remain the same. However, the background colors on the package design would change to represent new products' featured ingredients, while the Sweet Efflorescence logo would remain purple and gold to honor its flagship product.

Featured: floral and plant illustrated brand patterns to be used in brand materials and packaging

In developing her brand language, Stephanie fell in love with the slogan: "Bloom Empowered." This language represents how Sweet Efflorescence, at its core, exists for people wanting to take control over their health with organic, quality products. In doing so, taking elderberry syrup has positive effects on your wellness and ultimately helps you to feel healthier - therefore "Blooming Empowered."

When coming up with brand elements that would round out the visual identity, we decided that similarly to wanting an elevated color palette, the use of hand-drawn patterns would be an elegant feature for brand packaging. We sourced and modified hand-drawn illustrations consisting of flowers to supplement the slogan, "Bloom Empowered" along with a secondary pattern that features another ingredient, rosehips.

In 2020, as a result of the pandemic, Stephanie was forced to slow production of her Elderberry Syrup tonic. As part of an effort to meet customers' requests to bring the product back, she rolled out a "Home Brewed Elderberry Syrup Kit." This product needed to be light and versatile to keep production costs down.

Stephanie came to me again with this task and we determined that the best solution would be to create a packaging sleeve that displays the Sweet Efflorescence brand on the outside and instructions for how to brew the kit on the inside. The Home Brew included fresh, organic rosehips which presented us with the perfect opportunity to feature our rosehips hand-drawn brand pattern on the outside sleeve - which I believe turned out beautifully.

This particular project was special to me. It was an honor to play a small role in an effort to help people take charge of their health during a time of uncertainty in the world, and provide people with some extra hope.

Contact

Atlanta | St. Louis | Minneapolis
neil@neilshastri.design

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today."

-Robert McKee