Echo creates new Kleenex designs for a post-Covid world

The range of products, named Proactive Care, includes hygiene face masks, antibacterial hand sanitiser, hygienic hand towels, and antibacterial wipes.

According to Jessica Stevens, design lead at Kleenex parent company Kimberly Clark, Echo was approached to create "approachable" designs for products that until now, have rarely been seen outside of a clinical setting.

"The challenge lay in shifting the perception of the products from episodic to everyday by positioning the advanced Kleenex range away from those purchased in moments of distress to ones purchased as a proactive well-being choice," says Lily Kowalik, account manager at Echo. "A friendly and reassuringly simple packaging design was key to achieving this and establishing new social norms."

The typeface used across all written labels was chosen for its open, approachable feel, so as not to intimidate consumers when faced with products that are new to the market. Echo also created a series of simple, illustrated icons that aim to "simplify and streamline" the range.

A key design consideration was that the packaging should be readable from two metres away "so that potential customers do not have to touch products on the shop shelf before deciding if it’s right for them," says Echo.

A green colour palette was chosen to demonstrate a sense of "resilience and optimism," and mark a departure from the usual blue palette associated with clinical products.

"To represent the power of individual actions adding up, we developed this hand motif and interlocking pattern," says Tashi van der Waerden, innovation director at Echo. "The hands further symbolise that Kleenex understands the importance of touch and its central role in personal and community well-being."