Private label range with a strong visual identity

Nominated for Pentawards 2020

Quality isn’t just for the few

Collaborating with Michelin star chef Wassim Hallal, Lidl is one of the first discount supermarkets to launch a gourmet private label in Denmark, with a purpose to achieve a greater experience of quality in their stores. Lidl has raised the bar when it comes to quality by selecting more than 160 products for the still growing private label range, the WH Range. All of the products have a story and help ensure that everyone can enjoy private label high quality gourmet products, even when shopping in a discount supermarket chain.

An atypical private label range with high transparency

Most private label ranges do not include details about the producers on the front of the products. The WH Range is an exception. Lidl and Wassim Hallal are proud of their collaboration with a specially selected group of small producers and include them on the front of the respective product packaging. This is a great fit in relation to modern consumers who want greater transparency. It increases credibility and perception of high quality for the range and it is great karma when you help small, local producers to thrive.

Client

Lidl Denmark

Project

Exclusive design for a private label range in collaboration with Wassim Hallal

Competences

Packaging design, artwork

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Design creation based on Dogme rules

The visual identity was created using Dogme rules. This means that the elements listed below had to be included in every single product sold in stores: The three colours copper, black and white, a dot pattern and an effect (partial coating, embossing, cut-outs, etc.)

Korolev font is a simple and modern font family, which creates a harmonious and stylish look along with the other design elements. It functions both for large and small text units, which meant that one single font could be used for the whole design and finished artwork. It is very well-functioning and readable, both in lowercase and uppercase, and contains several different styles of lettering, which means the same font can ensure a hierarchy of information on the packaging.

The Dogme rules help to create unique products, which together form a whole – regardless of whether it’s turbot, a luxury Easter egg or hemp gin. At the same time, the combination of different elements helps to ensure the potential for differentiation in depth, as the elements can be combined in countless ways.

The products are spread across stores in their respective categories. This requires a design that while using only few means, can ensure recognition in an often varied arrangement of goods. At the same time, it demands a lot from the design, which must function in all of the very different categories of foods, e.g. fresh fish, frozen foods, dairy products, confectionery, groceries, seasonal goods (e.g. Christmas, Easter).

The Dogme rules allow the designer to take his or her starting point from the individual product and packaging possibilities. For example, if the product is white, the white colour on the packaging can be omitted if the product has window patching, since the colour in this case is represented by the actual product. So there are many possibilities when a product is to be included in the range.

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Effects that must work with different materials, temperatures and production techniques

Since the used effect on a piece of packaging can both be a window patch, partial coating etc., the possibilities and above all limitations that exist for the different product categories had to be taken into consideration. It is a well-known challenge that because of e.g. temperature and humidity during transport, storage in the store and at the consumer’s home, it might be necessary to compromise in regards to the final look of the design. Necessary post-processing of materials can cause trouble but because of the different effect options that were available, this was avoided with the range. It has helped strengthen the range’s visual look across the store and it is also a great help to the producers in this range, who are often small producers with limited production setups.

From large boxes to small labels and foils

The design must be flexible enough to ensure that it can include large pizza boxes and small individually wrapped marzipan bars. It requires a design with strong, recognizable elements that can be scaled up and down. In this regard, the colours and the dot pattern are a crucial part of the private label’s identity and recognition.

Using creativity based on Dogme rules, we have created a living identity, which in a sophisticated way, radiates gourmet and luxury among Lidl’s product assortment.

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Do you have a product that deserves an exclusive expression on the shelves?

Contact us at +45 87 310 103 or mark@cameleon.dk

Mark Lyngaa Wegeberg

Mark L. Wegeberg,
Managing Director & Contact Manager