Package Design for REI Co-op
art direction, Branding, packaging design
As REI’s sole package designer, my responsibilities included: crafting new brand expressions, creating die lines for packaging, designing graphics & packaging templates, and doing store audits.
REI’s private brand has a wide variety of packaging and form factors. These range from folding cartons, hang tags, header cards joker tags and more, all with the goal of minimizing wasted and keeping both cost and material use to a minimum. It's my responsibility to make sure our brand is represented accurately across all package designs.
One example of a success story has been REI’s sock packaging. They needed a face-lift. Socks were uneasy for customers to open, hid most of the sock, and the package was nearly impossible to close once opened. The solution was a unique locking system that allows for a customer or store employee to easily access the sock, and close the package up. The new design has been incredibly successful and is the new standard in store.
REI’s private brands collection includes many sub brands, each with their own unique look and feel. Evrgrn, Co-op Clothing, Novara, and REI are all distinct brands with their own design language. Packaging is used as the main differentiator to help define each brand.