EDO is a unisex beauty and skincare brand launched in 2022 that wants to redefine masculinity and find a healthier approach to what it means to be a man.
EDO
Industry Beauty
Geography Global
Less than six months after its initial launch, EDO was not just new and ambitious, but had become an award-winning Nordic beauty and skincare brand for men.
Challenge
EDO wanted its packaging to look and feel as great as the skincare and makeup inside. They also wanted to appeal to the modern man, while avoiding male stereotypes and staying true to its ambitious vision for quality and sustainability.
Response
Lynxeye developed visual identity and packaging design based on EDO’s brand values, honoring the importance of sustainably sourced materials. The new packaging also made sure that EDO was clearly differentiated from competitors and would have a strong shelf presence.
In addition, the team designed EDO’s global DTC e-commerce site.
Deliverables
- Visual identity
- Packaging design
- Digital design
—Traditionally, male beauty and skincare has meant bold colors like Ferrari red and use of aggressive symbolism. Anything to avoid being confused with products for women. We’re different. Our focus is extremely well-designed products that give great results.
Process
In discussion with EDO’s founders, Lynxeye established the visual foundations for the new brand. This was followed by a longer period of research and development to complete the ambitious packaging vision.
In a close collaborative process, the Lynxeye team developed a design system that was applied across the full product range – unifying the secondary packaging (custom-made cellulose) and primary packaging. Meticulous care was put into every detail of the designs in terms of color scheme and texture, as well as size and proportions.
As part of developing the designs for the global e-commerce site, Lynxeye’s quality assurance process made sure that the visual assets would perform equally well in a digital context, as on a physical store shelf.
—I want to take the shame out of vanity and self-care for men. If I need to touch up my brows because they got a bit sun bleached, I want to be able to do that with a product that is not some pink eyebrow pen sold at Sephora.
Male Beauty Product of the Year
In early 2023, The Swedish Beauty Awards named EDO’s face oil, Beam Me Up, Male Product of the Year: “A product that is truly NOW in 2023. This year’s winner is unisex and comes in innovative and extremely elaborate packaging that contains a high quality, innovative formulation. Simply amazing!”
Sustainable packaging
It was a priority that the mindfulness and sustainability thinking saturating the product development had a visual expression. The hexagonal shape is repeated in all EDO products and represents the smallest building block in nature, from snowflakes to beehives. But the hexagon is not easy to manufacture in cardboard. Instead, EDO’s selected local Swedish manufacturer Prototal suggested molding using a wood fiber-based composite called fibrolon that could live up to both the qualitative and environmental ambitions of EDO.
Truly inclusive design
Beauty and skincare products for men are known for overtly bright colors and use of masculine stereotypes. EDO’s founders felt it was important to have a softer look and feel than what is usually expected in the category. The design team carefully avoided traditionally masculine colors, elements and language. Instead, a gender neutral identity was developed, that prioritized highlighting product benefits and natural ingredients.
