TECHNICALLY

DECLICIOUS

DESIGNING A SCALABLE PACKAGING AND RETAIL SYSTEM FOR A CATEGORY-LEADING NUTRITION BRAND.

Role: Lead Brand & CPG Designer
Duration: 2 Years
Scope: NPD concepts and pitch comps, packaging mockups, print-ready dielines, shipper and end-cap design, club exclusives, Amazon PDP/A+ content, lifestyle and social content
Design House: Darkroast Co

Soylent fuels science. because it is science.

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Soylent fuels science. because it is science.

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Soylent fuels science. because it is science. · Soylent fuels science. because it is science. ·

the challenge

Soylent makes plant-based complete nutrition in shakes, powders, protein, coffee, and energy. It’s sold on Amazon, in grocery, at club, and direct to consumer, and every one of those places has its own rules, its own shopper, and its own definition of “good enough.”

My job was to make one brand feel like itself everywhere, while launching new products on a calendar that did not care about my feelings.

The brand needed to feel:

  • Clear

  • Differentiated

  • Scalable

  • Retail-Ready

Pretty packaging was the easy part. Making it work in the real world was the project.

  • New Product Development

    The roadblock: A new flavour has to feel brand new and still obviously belong to the family. Too different and it looks like a stranger. Too similar and nobody notices it launched. What I did: I built pitch comps and photorealistic mockups so the client could see a concept on the shelf before it existed, then iterated with them directly until it clicked. I developed a flavour-cue system so each SKU got its own personality without breaking the master brand.

    Focus areas:
    -Flavour cues that read in two seconds flat
    -Brand architecture across Meal, Protein, Coffee, and Energy
    -Pitch decks that sold the idea, not just the pixels

    The goal was to stand out without going rogue.

  • Packaging & Production

    The roadblock: A design that looks great on screen can fall apart on a dieline. Panel hierarchy, regulatory real estate, and vendor specs have no interest in your concept. Then, mid-program on a grocery end-cap, the new flavour turned out to be ready way earlier than anyone expected. What I did: I swapped the new flavour into the approved end-cap without touching the structure. Because the files were built modularly, with flavour elements separate from the dieline, every spec, bleed, and fold line stayed intact and production kept moving.

    I delivered:
    -Print-ready dielines with accurate specs
    -Clean, flexible production files
    -A fast-turn end-cap revision for the new launch

    If it was approved, it was producible. If the lineup changed, it was still producible.

  • Channel & Retail Programs

    The roadblock: Grocery, club, and e-commerce shoppers are three completely different people. What works on an end-cap doesn’t work in a Costco aisle, and neither works in a search result. On top of that, the grocery end-cap needed to drive trial, not just look good. What I did: I designed shipping cases, shelf-ready packaging, and end-cap concepts for grocery, including a tearable coupon pad on the side of the display to give shoppers a reason to grab one right now. For Costco, I built exclusive offerings for the “I’m buying in bulk and I want to feel smart about it” mindset. Each program started with the question “who’s standing here, and what are they deciding?”

    Programs included:
    -Shipping cases and shelf-ready packaging (SRP)
    -Grocery end-cap concepts with tear-off coupon pads
    -Costco-exclusive club-pack offerings

    Same brand, different room, different job.

  • E-Commerce & Content

    The roadblock: On Amazon, your product is a postage stamp. You get a tiny image, a few seconds, and a stranger who is already scrolling. What I did: I designed listing content that worked small first and pretty second, then backed it with lifestyle imagery that showed Soylent in real life (the 2 p.m. slump, the post-workout dash, the “I forgot to eat” moment). I also built social creative and out-of-home concepts so the brand showed up consistently from billboard to feed.

    I produced:
    -Amazon hero images, infographics, and A+ content
    -Lifestyle imagery built around real consumption moments
    -Social-first creative for launches and announcements
    -Magazine and billboard mockups

    One brand voice, from the shelf to the PDP to the feed.

all work created during employment at Darkroast co.