Essnce Haus

Building unforgettable brand identities & packaging designs for modern alternative
lifestyle, beauty & wellness brands full of heart & soul

Creative Director

Lydia Shaw Design

Working as a freelance designer for a number of clients

Freelance Graphic Designer

Red C Marketing

Digital Designer / Art Director

JD Williams

International Web Designer

Bourne Leisure

Currently a in-house Junior Designer at Bourne Leisure on the Haven/Caravan Sales team working mainly on the day to day promotional material ranging from adverts, DM’s, brochures to emails. Within 4 months of being at Bourne I was promoted to managing one of the brands, Owner Services, which meant managing my own time and working closely with the marketing team. Other great experiences have been being heavily involved in a number of creative campaigns including the Haven 2014 creatives and having the opportunity develop skills as a digital designer through designing info panes, landing pages, banners, animated giffs and having email coding training. Working along experienced senior designers has not only developed my knowledge and skills within design but it has also increased my confidence.

Skills learnt:
• Communications and Media – knowledge of media production, communication, dissemination techniques and methods
• Design - knowledge of design techniques, tools and principles involved in producing creative and compelling promotional material including strong skills in layout, colour and typography
• Knowledge of print and online production principles – including working knowledge of html/css
• Sales and Marketing – proven experience working with and serving the needs of the sales and marketing department including knowledge of the marketing campaign process and sales cycles
• Design and Web Software – experience using Adobe Creative Suite 
• Communications – strong written and verbal skills, great interpersonal skills
• Time Management – ability to balance needs of clients, manage to prioritise and set appropriate expectations, ability to work within tight deadlines with a strong focused attitude
• Self-starter - ability to operate with minimal management oversight
• Image selection – including resizing, formatting and image retouching
• Getting artwork ready for print 
• Working within brand guidelines 
• Understanding the entire design process

Graphic Designer

Pukka Up

Building unforgettable brand identities & packaging designs for modern alternative
lifestyle, beauty &wellness brands full of heart & soul

Don’t forget to future-proof your packaging 

I was on a recent call with a founder and asked about what the future lineup of products looked like.

I think it’s an essential question to ask, because it could change the way I design.

Because imagine being tied to a design that doesn’t work across different products. 

It gets messy and very confusing, and potentially leads to an expensive rebrand. 

And that kinda sucks. 

Just a little reminder to keep that end goal in mind.

Lydia Shaw

Brand & packaging maker | for the new era of wellness & lifestyle brands

RE:SET Running Skincare Concept

It’s been on the back burner for a while, but I'm making progress.

Now, whilst many brands are focusing on hydration, gels and looking the part, there are not many/any that focus on the skincare. 

Creatively inspired by running magazines/ads from way back. 

ChatGPT says it’s a good idea and there’s a gap (so it must be true 😉) 

Runners out there…

Would this be something you would buy?

How an ingredient shapes a brand aesthetic 

Centella is one of the brands that belong to the Skin 1004 family.

Named after the hero ingredient Centella Asiatica, which grows in Madagascar (yes, I instantly thought of the film too)

What I love is how this brand has created an entire brand world aesthetic from one ingredient.

Not just on the packaging, but also in the retail flagship store. It’s really something special.

There are so many little touches that feel thoughtfully considered. 
All telling the same story.

Big fan and a job well done 👏

—

Follow along as I share more of what’s inspiring me ✌️

Running a product-based business feels 😅

No alternative text description for this image

I have no idea what I’m doing. 

A daily thought when it comes to running the business side of things. 

Unlike designing, which feels like second nature to me and my safe space.

I’m slowly learning to fall in love with the process, even when it feels like pure chaos.
Trying not to get distracted by the latest hack and to stay consistent.
Testing what works and a blind faith that ‘it will all work out’.

Here’s to figuring it out as we go.

Anyone else?

Fun few days roaming around Kuala Lumpur.

Sometimes, a change of scene and a break from the laptop is just what you need.

And a little reminder to stop being a creature of habit and to see more of this side of the world.

Some of the trip finds...

Skincare vending machines - super cool and a good way to get eyes on your brand without having to commit to a full pop up / store. 

Coach Play store - one of the highlights of the trip (more on this later this week)

Can we all just make sure we’re on the same page that 60g is not a share size? 

(especially with Maltesers)

A graphic designer’s dream store

Visited the Coach Play store in Kuala Lumpur on a recent trip.

What I love is that these stores are set up as immersive testing grounds for Gen Z consumers; each one is unique and infuses the neighbourhood's story along with theirs. 

Just so happens this store was in an old printing mill, meaning loads of cool old and new typographic artwork, and a screen-printing machine that customers can use to create t-shirts and tote bags. 

Then, attached outside, you have the American diner-inspired Coach cafe.

First time visiting a Coach store, and in my element. 

So bloody cool.

Happy Tuesday.

Coach

Owning your packaging format

I came across Heights a few years ago, after listening to the founder chat on a podcast.
After a little stalking, I bought the product. Mainly because I loved the packaging so much. 

At the time (many moons ago), most supplement brands looked a little dull (see below)

But that to me is the power of having:
* A great product to begin with
* Housing it in something that goes against the standard

There are lots of different ways to stand out, but one I love is packaging formats.

So much, I wrote a little blog on it:
https://lnkd.in/eufTArqn

I would love to know if you’ve bought something purely because of the packaging.

Buy cheap, buy twice.

Something my brother used to remind me when I was younger, and something that rang in my head recently. 

So, backstory, I love sweet pineapples.

Being impatient to let it reach perfect ripeness (right pina), I decided to go for the cheaper local alternative (left Pina).

Long story short…not worth the effort of slicing it up. Lesson learnt.

And it got me thinking… It’s the same when it comes to building your brand.

After months of battling to get the perfect formula, costs are flying at you, and it’s tempting to want to save a few pennies on your brand and packaging. 

But sometimes in life, you really do get what you pay for.
AKA Buy cheap, buy twice.

Because there’s a little more to design than just making it look good. 
And when you use this to your advantage. 
It is what helps you stand out. 

Anyone else been burned with this?

—

TLDR: Some things in life you can cut corners on, your brand isn’t one of them.

Co-founder of DixonBaxi | A global agency building iconic brands.

You’re not behind. You’re growing.

Things that matter take longer than you think. It takes time to trust the process. And even longer to trust yourself.

Becoming the studio we imagined took real time. To find ourselves, the shape of it, not just the surface. To build something lasting.

It took time to reboot and rebuild our process. Not just improve it but reinvent it. To favour invention over delivery.

It took time to see that creativity isn’t a broad idea. It’s personal. Idiosyncratic. It lives in taste. It applies itself to gnarly problems. To complexity, uncertainty, and chaos. Time to bring clarity to that.

It took time and hard work to become meaningfully diverse. Not optics or fast fixes. Real change. Real access. Space for people to grow into leadership, not be placed into it.

Time to move from fair to equitable. And we’re still working on it. Salaries, benchmarking, progression, accountability. Knowing what helps each person thrive, not just ticking a box.

Time to quiet the ego and listen to what mattered. To realise leading isn’t about being at the front. It’s about building space for others to grow.

Time to realise our process doesn’t live in templates or timelines. It lives in people. Choosing who we work with just as carefully as the work itself.

Time to stop pitching. To trust ourselves enough to walk away from work that wasn’t right. To build something people wanted to come to, not chase.

Time to see that clients aren’t just clients. They’re collaborators. They bring their own creativity, pressure, and ambition. And our best work happens when we adapt to them, not fit them into a preset model.

Time to realise that data’s useful, but people are essential. That empathy is design’s best tool.

Time to work at a level where we could shape brands with a distinct point of view.

Time to draw on experience without being tied to it. To look forward with intent, not nostalgia. To embrace change, not just accept it. To create with the future in mind.

It all took time. A lot of it was uncomfortable. We made mistakes along the way. We still do. And we’re still learning.

And we’re fortunate. Not everyone has the experience or position to take these risks. We barely did. But we took them anyway.

When people see success, it’s easy to think it happened all at once. But that’s rarely true. It’s not instant. It’s earned. Built through discomfort, rejection and doubt, but still continuing.

Great things rarely come in one swinging moment. They’re built in thousands of small, deliberate steps. They ask for patience, perspective, and persistence.

If you’re not where you thought you’d be, you’re not behind.

You’re just not finished yet.

🤝

Si

Are you testing your packaging? 

Found this one in the good old M&S. Looks lovely, but I found the text quite hard to read. 

On-screen vs reality can sometimes bite us in the a**.

Sometimes it’s doing the not-so-glamorous things like:
How do the colours work together?
Is the text legible and the legal size?
How does it look in different lighting/when it’s photographed?
Is all the text correct/spelling mistakes? (this one 😅)

The last thing you need is a costly reprint.

Always think that a printed proof is needed to see how it looks properly. 

Oh and a fresh set of eyes, because for sure, you become a little blind by the end 😅

Does it have legs?

It was often a phrase that got thrown around when I worked as a designer, and something that now haunts me.

Because it’s kind of sad/frustrating when you create something really bloody good, but it’s pretty much a one-hit wonder. 

Maybe it works great on one product, but that’s it, end of. Or the logo works great on a package, but on mobile, you can barely make it out. 

That’s why when I create brands and packaging, I like to create quick mock-ups of how it works on other brand touchpoints to make sure “it’s got legs”.

“Strategy is at the foundation of victory - no matter what game you’re in”
(Bugzy Malone)

Hadn’t listened to any Bugzy Malone’s music or heard him speaking until yesterday on a podcast. But amongst many of the wise things this man said, what he said here👆

So true. Especially for founders launching a product.

Often, there's a rush to get to the design part.
100% get it, it’s exciting and fun.

But first, we need to understand the lay of the land and build on strong foundations.
Key things like where you’re planning to sell and what competitors look like.

Yes, aesthetics are important, but it’s not enough.
Because what we uncover helps direct the design.

Meaning less guessing, costly surprises down the line and a stronger shot of standing out.

Launching a product will always come with risks, 
But wouldn’t it be better to have a strong game plan instead?

Anyway, back to Bugzy…
Highly recommend giving the episode a listen, quite an inspiring guy.

(link in the comments)

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P.S. This is all fairly new, and I would massively appreciate any kind of feedback to improve 🪩

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