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Nivea approached fuseproject with a unique challenge. As a ubiquitous, global skin care brand, NIVEA products are sold across 170 countries and countless product categories. While they have remained at the forefront of the skin care industry, with over 500 million women using a NIVEA product every day, their successes have led to brand confusions; NIVEA products come in disjointed packaging forms, various different brand expressions and a series of disconnected graphic languages. They had no cohesive design language to guide their various engagements, which led to a diluted overall brand and a confusing experience for their customers.

How can Nivea simplify a proliferation of shapes and logos on shelves? How can we create bottles, tubes and jars that are an efficient set of essential designs and have a strong presence on the shelf? How do we rethink the logo and graphics to create a clear brand statement and work across the entire portfolio? How do we use design to reach sustainability goals now and in coming years?

Our early thinking was to reduce the complexity of the current form languages, edit the numerous packaging types to a minimum set and eliminate the proliferation of logo variations and typographic expressions. We believe simplifying the Nivea visual language offers a stronger and clearer expression of the brand values. We based the design and graphic language on solid ground: the heritage tin and its classic white Bauhaus-era lettering. By harkening back to a pervasive brand icon such as the blue tin, the new designs, while offering a fresh, forward facing look for the brand, is also anchored in the company’s rich history. With this new brand expression, NIVEA has a new face without losing any of its essential Nivea-ness.

The overall design language is also anchored in the circular logo. Caps and closures are rethought in the blue Nivea color, with the redesigned logo embossed on the material. The bottles show simplified forms with bold gestures; their sloping shoulders give them a tactility and human element. To increase shelf presence and recognition, the bottles’ symmetrical 3-D forms have wide bases for stability, with a pure geometry that joins the closures as perfect circles. . Top areas angled to face the customer, a gentle slope reminiscent of a hand offering a service. This both embeds the new NIVEA logo to the bottle in a prominent, physical way, while engaging the consumer from the very beginning.

The opportunity for material reduction and sustainability has been followed throughout the design process in close cooperation with the NIVEA team. The reduction of bottle and packaging shapes creates new efficiencies within the company. At the same time, the geometry of the new design allow for improved functionality and less material used overall, by up to 15%. The weight reduction of the packaging is combined with a label reduction of 23% (by switching to a different material and liner). The bottles are optimized for shipping, packing tighter and saving 12,600 pallets and 585 tons of CO2 per year. These are contributing to the overall 2020 goals of Beiersdorf to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% per product. In addition, all materials used are fully recyclable and all formulas have an average of over 80% non-fossil ingredients.<<