A better skincare brand for a kinder world
Melio Skincare
Partners Mark and Richard set upon the task of devising a natural skin treatment at home during lockdown 2020. Richard wanted to create a natural skincare solution that helped his partner Mark counteract the toll of working late nights and early mornings on Zoom calls. The result was an effective, plant-based skincare formula – all it needed was an identity and strategy to get it out into the world. After some deep strategic and creative thinking, Melio was born.
Brand Research
Brand Strategy
Name Development
Brand Creative
Brand Guidelines
Brand Activation
Website Development
Collateral Creation
Video Production
The work
The project had one clear objective off the bat: for kindness to be entrenched in all embodiments of the brand. From sustainable packaging to soft language to inclusive model casting and plant-based ingredients, the conscious consumer needed to be safe in Melio’s hands. The name itself needed to encompass the brand ethos and after much deliberation, ‘Melio’ revealed itself. ‘Melio’ comes from the word ‘meliorism’ meaning ‘the belief that the world can be made better through human effort’ which was fitting for a brand that wanted to be sustainable, proactively socially responsible and inclusive.
The visual execution of the brand had other objectives: to communicate the brand’s Aussie roots, to stand out in a crowded marketplace and to be gender-neutral. Market and competitor research revealed that the previous trend for minimalist and clinical brands (à la The Ordinary and La Roche Posay) was on the way out and distinctive and bold colour palettes were on the upsurge.
Dark purple was chosen as the hero colour to align with the hero ingredient mangosteen fruit and be gender-neutral, with an earthy ‘Australiana’ palette reflective of the rainbow bark of eucalyptus to support and extend the brand. The wordmark needed to be simple for legibility on the shelf but a flourished ‘o’ that is reflective of the bisection of a mangosteen was added for warmth and texture. An aspirational tagline ‘Better skin for a kinder world’ was also devised, solidifying the brand identity.
The brand design and copy was rolled out into sustainable and refillable packaging and gift-boxes, branded social media artwork and brand collateral such as eDMs and printed promotional materials. A Shopify website was designed and developed and Melio launched globally with the hero product The Serum in November 2022, with a full product line to follow in early 2023.
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