Design Bridge partners with new DTC brand Callaly to revolutionise the femcare category

• The new direct-to-consumer subscription brand delivers customisable boxes of high-quality, innovative organic cotton period products through consumers’ letterboxes
• A new structural and visual design system supports the brand’s sustainability credentials and Certified B Corporation status

The Design Bridge London Studio are excited to announce their latest work partnering with pioneering start-up Callaly, creating a revolutionary direct-to-consumer (DTC) period product brand. Design Bridge have collaborated with Callaly to transform it from its previous focus on a single product, the tampliner (an innovative 2-in-1 tampon and liner combined), to a personalised brand experience that delivers a full range of customisable organic cotton period products, tailored to individual women’s needs.

Chloé Templeman, Creative Director from Design Bridge London, commented, “Callaly came to us with an amazing core product innovation, and an ambition to grow and extend their brand and offer. It was an exciting strategic and creative challenge to create a direct-to-consumer packaging system that could accommodate all the possible customisable permutations of Callaly’s products, as well as meeting the high standards of the brand’s B Corporation status. Where the majority of period products looked generic and ‘undesigned’, we had to disrupt the category and create a genuine emotional connection for consumers through beautifully crafted design.”

Design Bridge became brand guardians for Callaly and worked across many aspects of the brand; from the sustainable packaging to consulting on the website’s look and feel, art directing photoshoots for their social media and creating a suite of animated icons to further bring the brand to life online.

Working to the brand’s Certified B Corporation status – companies with a proven track record of meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, balancing profit and purpose – Design Bridge’s 3D solution was to create a flexible system of postable boxes that use completely sustainable, recyclable materials. The boxes are made from FSC recyclable cardboard, and the wrappers for the individual products inside are all either compostable or biodegradable. This new flexible system has been designed with the future in mind, set up so that the currently hand-packed boxes can be filled through an automated line production method as the brand grows.

When it came to the new visual identity and customer experience, Design Bridge wanted to challenge the norms of the femcare category and create something that people would genuinely enjoy receiving and opening. Applying minimal branding to the exterior of the postal packaging for discretion, the new visual identity features bold pops of colour and a contemporary graphical style to shift Callaly away from traditional feminine hygiene cues, where products are consigned to the bathroom ‘cabinet of shame’, and into a more lifestyle space where they can sit proudly amongst beauty brands and cosmetics products.

Design details include:

• A playful wave-shaped tear-strip that creates a beautiful, fluid opening experience as the box ‘petals’ elegantly unfold to reveal the contents
• Engaging information about the brand and products on each ‘petal’ to communicate Callaly’s sustainability credentials
• A call to action that urges customers to recycle the packaging after use
• The ability to elegantly re-seal the box, for ease and discretion
•  A bespoke typeface created in-house at Design Bridge to complement the brand’s conversational and approachable tone of voice
• A bookmark has also been embedded in the packaging to promote Callaly’s Book Club, which is run via the brand’s social media channels.

Kate Huang, Chief Marketing Officer at Callaly, commented, “We’re on a mission to inspire people with periods to expect more from the products they use, by finally putting customers’ needs first. We’re reinventing products and the way they are bought, providing a personalised service to suit each person’s cycle. The female-led team at Design Bridge completely understood our brand’s mission and the mindset of our customers, and they brought valuable personal insights to the table. They are the perfect partners to help us build out the brand, extend our offering and introduce a new level of creative flair to our visual identity.” 

Source: Design Bridge

  Callaly, customisable product, Design Bridge, DTC, Femcare, Organic Cotton