Cleo: Beauty of Old Civilization

Rebrand / Information Design / Public Engagement Strategy / Reports / Social Media / Student Work

Cleo is an emerging Egyptian-origin skincare brand that needed a brand identity to help them stand out from competitors when they launch at Sephora.

Cleo targets budget-conscious and socially-conscious 18-24-year-old women seeking a luxury skincare experience at mid-level prices

The Market Comparison

Cleo's brand needed to take inspiration and motifs from three domains: popular North American, mid-range skincare brands, luxurious and high-end cosmetics brands, and Egyptian-origin labels.

Mid-Range Skincare for Teens and Twenties

Feels clean and minimal but also repetitive and forgettable. Often relies on type and colour. Each package blends in; no package stands out without word-of-mouth or celebrity endorsement.

Luxury International Skincare

Minimal, but elevated with glass or metallic packaging. Unique personalities in each brand. But some of these print finishes are too expensive for Cleo’s mid-level budget.

Egyptian-Origin Competitors

Gold accents, minimal illustration, variety of approaches. Proves decorative touches are possible at mid-range pricing. But some feel too “handi-craft” for Cleo’s audience.

Telling Cleopatra's Real Story

History attempts to portray Cleopatra as a femme fatale who utilized her unparalleled beauty to seduce and gain power. The truth is that, according to historians, Cleopatra was average-looking, and her reputation was distorted by male writers and former partners out of spite. The truth was, she used argumentation and persuasion to gain allies. Today, her true appearance remains unknown. I wanted my brand to embody Cleopatra’s true traits, such as her mystery, calculatedness, and luxury.

The Design Solution

Cleo's brand identity invites consumers to feel beautiful, elegant, and empowered, just like Cleopatra herself did. Market research revealed a preference for geometric illustrations among our audience over detailed ones influenced the simplified representations of hieroglyphics on the packaging.

The Importance of Colour

Cleo's brand identity places significance on black, which represents Cleopatra's mysterious traits, gold (which represents luxury), and blue, which echoes back to the hues used in ancient Egyptian art centuries ago.

Honouring God Geb

To maintain affordability and honour the Egyptian God of the Earth, Geb, Cleo opts for eco-friendly boxes and tubes over costly glass, metal, or printing finishes seen in higher-end products. The cost of those finishes actually drives the price of the product up, not the formulation itself.

Challenges

I struggled with creative block as I tried to create a logo that didn’t fall into Cleopatra and Egyptian cliches and a brand identity that felt luxurious but still conveyed its mid-range budget. Other challenges included researching skincare packaging/FDA requirements to create a package design that meets Canadian government standards. This included integrating French copy, gathering all the necessary icons and logos, brainstorming a manufacturer’s address, establishing a hierarchy for the vast amount of information I needed to fit on the packaging, and more.

Final Thoughts

Working on this project was my first time really bringing strategy and research into the design process. I took observations from three territories of research to shape a brand for mid-budget 18-24-year-olds. My goal was to give it the look of high-end packaging and include Egyptian design elements, while making everything cohesive. This project taught me just how important research and strategy are to the final product, and I’m excited to use this approach in future projects.