Grreenbox
Grreenbox is an activity box that arrives monthly to teach kids about different ways they can better the environment through fun and education activities. Each month that the box arrives, kiddos will get an assortment of items that guide them through an environmentally friendly activity, a lesson, and fun extras for completing the activities given to them. Parents can enjoy quality time with their kids while guiding them through these important lessons.
Branding / Packaging / Art Direction: Abby Guido
Process
In order to effectively teach lessons about the importance of helping the environment and the ways in which we can, we needed a way that draws attention to kids in a way that is fun, exciting, and educational. My research explored other brands, logos, and visuals that are successful in achieving this.
When approaching the logo for this brand, it was impactful to the creative process that I look at examples of logos for kids’ brands as well as logos that depict monsters, since that is a crucial part of the identity. This process inspired logo development throughout the process.
The logo is primarily typographic and contains reoccurring finds in my research such as an eye in the ‘O’ and wonky lettering. The changing size in the R’s represents the way the monster-like sound “Grrrr” may be used with infliction when said aloud. In keeping consistency to the illustration style throughout the brand, the logo can, and often is used both blocked out and in color, just as can be seen done with our monsters and additional elements.
The Monsters
Our team of friendly monsters was created to guide our users/future environmental heroes through valuable lessons, activities, and games that arrive at their door. Each monster has its own area of expertise when it comes to helping the environment as well as their own name, and assigned color. By giving our characters individual personality and purpose, we are able to create a system for both an educational and playful brand.
Brand Development
The brand’s intended personality called for attention-grabbing details that inspire the target audience with an array of bright, cheerful colors. Each monster in the Grreenbox team has been assigned their own color, giving them recognizability throughout the brand when addressing lessons the individual characters are there to explain. The combination of typography, color, and personality has allowed us to create a brand that feels as if it’s just for the kids, yet still fun for the parents. Every detail is a significant attribute to the brand’s universe where our characters live and teach.
Creating our characters for Grreenbox was a turning point during both the visual and conceptual development. The initial use of the monsters came when the lessons that we were created to teach kids needed a gender-neutral voice. That voice came in the form of originally 12 different monsters, which eventually was narrowed down to 5 for the final product. The remaining characters often make guest appearances throughout the brand. By creating a universe with exciting characters to guide lessons and ideas that were being channeled through the activities, we are able to successfully communicate with and excite children extending over a range of ages. This aspect took our brand to another level of compelling for this target audience.
Prater Serif Pro-Bold, with its crooked serif forms and whimsical character, was thoughtfully chosen as the primary typeface for our brand. A decision that came with no doubt that it would carry the feeling Grreenbox was searching for. We adapt to the playful nature of the font that is additionally used in our mainly typographic logo by writing our copy in non-traditional forms of grammar — using upper and lowercase in a way that may be written as a child, our target audience, would. Diving into the free-spirited mindset of a child allows our copy to be open to interpretation and imagination. We then paired it with Sophia Pro, a sans typeface that still has an heir of whimsy while still grounded in sophistication enough to communicate the important messages about the environment.
The Box
Greeenbox arrives at your door minimally packed, containing only the objects needed to complete the tasks in that month’s package, eliminating any unnecessary plastics or paper. Every item is reusable or is meant to/can be recycled. Below is an illustrated example of what would come in your Grreenbox.
The box’s design, changing slightly for each rotation, shows an illustration of the monsters within the Grreenbox universe—a colorful and clean oasis for cute, planet-loving beasts. They are often shown surrounded by nature or doing an environmentally friendly activity.
Inside the box, we include a card illustrating the activity that will be done step-by-step. By using illustration to communicate the directions, it makes it easier for kids to understand the process they will take with minimal help from parents.
Younger children will still need guidance but can learn and be entertained through the drawings on the card. This is something that could, in the future be kept as a memento of their accomplished tasks, and able to be seen again for future ideas of environmentally friendly activities.
Website
A simple, single-scrolling site was created to connect the potential audience with the brand. The page both allows for brand awareness, using the characters, colors, and information to tell viewers more about the brand as well as explaining what may come in the box. As the user continues to scroll through the page, they are greeted by and properly introduced to our Greenbox monsters: Herb, Lila, Skipo, Jax, and Katy.
Greenbox.com is primarily used by users to sign up and subscribe to the brand. This makes room for an e-commerce site, which is a one-stop-shop for creating an account if one wasn’t previously made and purchasing their subscription. The process ends with a page full of excitement that brings out the best in our little monsters.
