VINEWAY is a radically new form of a personalised wine tasting journey – experienced at home. Every glass of wine has its own unique story and flavours that are waiting for discovery. The business plans to have a team of sommeliers and winemakers that travels throughout less known wine regions of Central & Eastern Europe to meet various winemakers who want their stories and wines to be discovered and told.

Achilles has developed a brand identity framework for VINEWAY that highlights the wine experience and ease of use. The project encompasses everything from naming, brand positioning and messaging, to packaging design, brand collateral and digital design, to art direction of the 3D product modelling and illustration.

The challenge for the designers was creating a brand identity that sets VINEWAY apart but also offer a neutral platform for the wine sector. The identity focuses on its mysterious and unconventional experience that users can luxuriate in. The name “VINEWAY,” a play on the word “VINE,” and “WAY” is simple, memorable and appeals to the senses. The wholesale range is largely inspired by poetry, chance happenings and random discoveries. This friendly spirit extends to the logotype, which is customized with a contemporary sans serif and a calligraphic construction. The illustrative pattern are wine fields from a bird’s perspective, which have been created in a natural way and can be assosiated with a map that guides a visitor through the journey. The basic color palette enhances the beauty of the pure wine colours.

VINEWAY comes packaged in a child-proof box that provides a monthly personalised selection based on the client’s preferences in five special glass tubes from underrated winery regions from the Eastern part of Europe. We helped modeling the 3D products to get a realistic idea of how the product should look like eventually, thereby also positioning the start-up more visibly towards future investors.

About Elvea

Elvea is best known for its wide range of classic tomato products: diced tomatoes, passatas, peeled tomatoes, tomato paste..., made from the best Italian tomatoes. In the fall of 2020, Elvea launched a new range of tasty ready-to-eat sauces. Made with genuine Italian tomatoes and 100% natural ingredients. In close collaboration with Elvea’s new product development department, Achilles created the new package design for this range. One of the challenges was to create a packaging that captures Elvea’s DNA and at the same time, it was important that the new design breathes a younger and dynamic look and feel.

A lively package design, in line with the Elvea brand characteristics

Together we have explored which design elements would appeal to the target group, all the while retaining Elvea’s authentic and unique character. All the design and production elements, including art direction on the playful photography of the ingredients, a legible and modern typography, traditional illustrations of pastas,  and the fresh colour palette, combine the message that Elvea provides: the best quality products on offer.

Who is Rose Mary

In the hustle and bustle of our lives, we don't want to compromise on the quality and freshness of our meals. At Rose Mary you can order food that is healthy and tasty. Just as we used to receive a "jar" from home. Just simple and good food. Achilles was asked to create a corporate identity that reflects who Rose Mary is. She cooks with Love and passion, and you should feel that you will be taken care of.

We associate the name with herbs and scents. It is a traditional, even somewhat nostalgic name that appears at different times and places. The name can be understood in all languages. The colour palette is based on spices. Green tones combined with discreet neutrals. A colour palette that radiates freshness.

Uniting Colmar with their customers

Colmar wants to serve good food in a place where customers feel at home and choose to come back to. It is important to get to know your customers to create such an environment. Therefore Colmar wanted on the one hand to retain more of their guests, and on the other gain insight in their behavior. On top of that Colmar was looking for a way to reward their returning clientele and enhance the communication between them.  

A user friendly loyalty application

To achieve customer insight and customer loyalty, the team agreed upon a smart saving system for the application. Customers start saving from their first scan, by presenting either the app itself or the physical card. And the sooner they come back, the more they can save. It’s possible to use the saved up credit any time the customer wants, in all of the restaurants. Colmar gains information and grows customer retention, and the customer can save money: a win-win situation.

Case study: Bringing Appti to life

For Colmar, Achilles Design took the lead throughout the whole design process. Firstly they defined an efficient UX strategy, validating this through workshops and user testing. Next they focused on UX Design, testing different prototypes until agreeing upon the perfect flow. After that the team worked on UI design. Finally Achilles supervised the development by our software partner Cubitec and also delivered the support.

A strategy for succes

First things first: Achilles started with laying out a sound strategy. During a series of workshops, they guided the Colmar team in defining the strategy for this new service. Our designers helped them in determining a clear goal and purpose, and to match the business requirements with customer needs. This process led to laying out the blueprint of the loyalty program’s mechanism. Also, the requirements for the minimum viable product (MVP) were defined.

Setting the user story straight

With the MVP scope defined, it was time to transform this into user stories. This is a fundamental step in the designing process. Different user flows are conceived. Positive actions are taken into account, but also the unhappy flows, when a user encounters a certain problem. Especially these ‘edge’ cases should be drawn out properly to prevent gridlock. These flows are set up for distinctive users, each with their own goals leading to a specific outcome.

Every feature that is added, has to end up in the right place. Therefore prototyping is an important part of the process. During the design of these prototypes Achilles uses a minimal design which can be adjusted quickly, when given feedback. The design is basic and uniform, so the user can focus on functionality, and the look of the application is not perceived as the final design.

The evaluation of these prototypes happened during a testing period in 2 different Colmar restaurants. Over twenty people were questioned about their experience. The panel consisted of a diverse group: from digital natives to elderly people. To confirm assumptions, forms were composed and the data was used to correct ‘hiccups’ in the process. 

UI Design: a flowing architecture

Besides being functional, a product also has to have the right look. For Colmar, Achilles embraced a ‘digital first’ branding approach. Colmar has a recognizable, warm design, which Achilles wanted to adapt into the new Appti brand. They helped in creating this new brand extension from brand name to final visual concept. By adopting elements of the Colmar brand identity as a basis, it was made sure that the new platform fitted perfectly with the existing Colmar brand. 

Every screen that is part of the application is extensively tested. The ‘happy flow’ screens and also the screens that are shown when something goes wrong: multiple possibilities are taken into account. These flows are set up by drawing out a map of expectation patterns and testing these assumptions. A final touch to the user flows is the use of microcopy, or specific interaction copywriting, to make sure every part of a sentence is unambiguous. This attention to detail creates a frictionless user flow.

Apart from applying effortless movement throughout the application, Achilles also pays attention in making a product scalable. This scalability is established by consistent documentation and the creation of a design system. This way components can easily be re-used and expanded when needed.

A well-oiled platform

Finally Achilles put together all these design elements into the creation of the application. The development of the application was coordinated by Achilles and executed by their software partner Cubitec. The platform is built as a responsive web application, to enable perfect usage on both desktop and mobile devices.  The Achilles team ensured that the designs were correctly implemented into the platform, to establish a smooth user experience. Also after Appti went ‘live’, they were responsible for the follow-up of the application.

Implement signature checkout process to French legislation

At Colruyt in Belgium, the cashier takes your shopping items directly from your shopping cart, scans them, and loads them into another cart. This saves time and space within the Colruyt system and results in better customer intimacy. Even though the process is very much appreciated by Colruyt’s Belgian customers, this checkout method didn't fully comply with French norms and laws. Rather than just acquiring standard checkout counters and effectively copying the checkout system of other retail chains, Colruyt decided to develop a new checkout counter system that better suited their unique personality.

Verification of concepts in real life

Evidently, ensuring ergonomic comfort for the cashier personnel was absolutely crucial in this project. The best way to create and verify different concepts was using true-size prototypes. Very basic models made of simple materials (wood, cardboard, etc) were used for role playing games, to optimise the workflow. They provided immediate feedback to the design team, on different configurations or variations of the concept.

Efficiency as a design driver

Process efficiency is the number one KPI at Colruyt. Naturally, this is also reflected in the construction of the checkout counters. A smart breakup into individual modules allows for fast assembly and repairs. The split-up also allowed Colruyt to use many parts left and right reducing the overall part count, cutting down on inventory and transport through nesting parts together.

Carefree happiness

Pregnancy, giving birth, and raising young children creates demand for baby supplies. Natural requirements for anything that concerns a baby are quality and reliability, trust and comfort. For a retailer in baby supply, it is crucial not only to offer the right products, but to offer information around the subject, share relevant tips and tricks, and to make customers feel understood. Achilles Design was asked to help the brand to develop a visual identity that radiates cheerful comfort. A warm and balanced design that informs and inspires at the same time. It’s not just about selling baby products. It’s about offering (future) moms proper advice, guidance and security.

We combine our expertise

We work in close co-operation with the client, with whom we ran workshops and debriefs. We developed a dedicated communication strategy and determined the most suitable use of colour, typography and graphic elements.

Market research and desktop research

Before we start designing, we went through a pre-study period, thereby running a desk research on the subject, during which we tried to better understand the customer and her needs. We then ran a gap analysis versus the current look and feel of Dreambaby and developed a new visual identity that closed the gap. The next step was to dissect the existing brand. This helped us to determine the characteristics of topics and to develop a suitable communication strategy.

A toolkit for graphic designers

Instead of delivering a rigid corporate identity, we presented a toolkit the designers at Dreambaby can use to explore new boundaries. The tree in the logo was base for this toolkit. Next to representing new-born life and all the growth and blossoming potential it holds, the coloured leaves, which come in all shapes and sizes, can outgrow the tree and create a graphic world on their own, effectively becoming a dynamic logo. Although colours and illustration style are determined, icons can be added at will and new visual stories can be told.

Packaging

For practical reasons the actual packaging (the basket) had to be preserved. So we went for a visual makeover of the top card. Furthermore, we added a small booklet for additional storytelling.

bright, fluorescent colors and a humorous nod to the traditional

Dutch oyster farming has a long family tradition. Furthermore, competitors often come from the same region or village. So the importance of heritage is sensitive and should not be underestimated. Unfortunately, this often leads to conservative design. The challenge was to come up with an attractive and contemporary brand, without renouncing tradition. As a reference to the long history in craftsmanship, we used engraved illustrations, but with a slight twist to strip it from its ponderous nature. The use of a simple, sans serif font and fluorescent colors gives the packaging an instant contemporary feel and makes it undeniably ‘pop’.

Making meat products easier to find, identify and choose

Adjusting the space, packaging and arrangements of products in order to support quicker and easier identification and choice among the different qualities, types, cuts and preparations of meat products in the fresh food department. OKay hired Achilles Design for a project that aimed at stimulating the overall performance of their fresh-cut, pre-packaged meat products section of their fresh food department. With other influential trends are also affecting volume, such as new lifestyles and growing climate awareness, the overall goal was to retain a fair market share. Our role was to research, develop and validate solutions for the hypothesis that the current way the products were presented, lacked intuitiveness and was detrimental to the attractiveness of the products. For us, that meant that we had to analyze the design of the space, the packaging, and the customer journey.

Analyzing how we make choices in meat products

With the constraint of limiting scope to the space of using only fresh food department adjustments, we first analyzed the in-store customer journey that leads to the purchase of pre-packaged meat. We therefore had to find out how a consumer is becoming aware of the product range, and then finding out which search attributes and quality cues are used to come closer to a product selection.

Validating scenarios

From the hypotheses, we generated a range of solutions, ranging from more transformational to incremental. This was done in co-creation with the relevant stakeholders such as the retailers’ buyers, packaging designers, marketeers, infrastructure designers and store managers. Individual items, such as the labels on the packaging or the angle to present a packaging to provide visibility, were combined into total concepts. These were translated into multiple interactive Virtual Reality prototypes of the entire space and components, which we used to immerse and research consumers opinion and behavior.

Spatial service system

The adapted packaging includes a new materialization and label design that facilitates easier and faster identification of meat cut and meat type. For the new packaging concepts, sustainability criteria were also used to generate and select product candidates. The sections got updated with new lighting, new visual cues, quieter colors to promote a premium feel and better visibility on the cuts by optimizing facing and view angles. The validated solution was then summarized and translated into a service blueprint.

A store that fits the life of busy people, 24/7

Creating a retail concept, targeted at young people who live in or commute through city centers, that supports unplanned shopping missions and facilitates having tasty and balanced meals for the next 24 hours. In 2015, Colruyt Group approached us to develop an idea that was launched by a visionary employee. After helping with tuning the briefing, the challenge was to create a concept that would strengthen the position of the retailer in city centers, to attract new audience and provide an answer to changing shopper motivations, habits and preferences, such as seeking 24/7 instant fulfilment.

Designing an identity

Developing a strong identity is a cornerstone in delivering new commercial concepts, as it should immediately reflect what value the consumer can expect. To facilitate conceptualization of services, products, architecture and interiors, we first created an identity that matched the lifestyle of the audience. After interviewing and analyzing how the target audience chooses to spend their time to shop and to dine, we envisioned experiences in storyboards that explained the newly designed journeys. From these service scenarios, we designed all the components and touchpoints of a modern retail concept: the offering, the space and its services in and beyond the physical location. We designed the foundations of the product assortment and the means to quickly find instant fulfilment in that assortment by designing a visual identity, a concept for the interior and furniture and an app concept.

Familiarizing stakeholders with the concept

Prior to discussing the concept, we needed to enable stakeholders to quickly empathize with the target audience. With short presentation slots in mind, a short movie depicting the lives of the target audience was created. The journeys and different concepts were illustrated in detail to make sure the experience was communicated well. To make sure the visceral elements such as light & color recipes were simulated realistically, we built a miniature physical model with working lighting and service details.

A store that adapts it’s experience to the time of day

The retail concept is a small convenience store that blurs the lines between retail and gastronomy, and will be located near busy places, such as railway stations or city centers. It will be open 24/7. We chose to build an identity around ‘appearance recipes’: adapting the total experience to the time of day by changing the lighting, color, store interior & lay-out and assortment and really convey the atmosphere of mornings, lunches, dinner and nighttime consumption.

Visitors of the store who are looking for a quick solution can significantly reduce the hassle of choice and their time in-store by picking from a central “moments-counter”: a piece of furniture that has an assortment for each moment during the day. The counter will be re-oriented during the day, so that a relevant offer is always in the closest proximity of the checkout. Reorienting the counter will also change the appearance of the store: the total experience is altered by a change in lighting, messages displayed on the screens, such as weather forecast that day or local evening events to attend, etc..

The assortment is organized around these times with emphasis on facilitating choice and reducing time in preparation without compromising quality. To be able to pull this off, common items are supplemented with a private label. For each moment, there are ready to heat/eat items as well as inspirational menus with curated self-serve ingredient counters. To be able to match the lifestyle of the target audience, digital services and an app integrate into the experience by providing features that support the journeys: messaging about products, reserving breakfast pick-ups, notifying about new menu’s that match food preferences of couples and groups, offering traffic and commuting insights, etc.

Support and optimize the on-site customer journey

Creating and organizing the spatial elements, being architecture, interaction modules and signalisation to ensure a smooth and branded service delivery for grocery pick-ups. In 2015, Colruyt Group asked us to redefine the grocery pick-up service “Collect & Go”. Doing groceries is often looked at as a nuisance, requiring significant efforts and time. Offering an e-commerce solution can offer relief, on the condition that an excellent service and experience of receiving the goods is provided. Together with their internal design team, we were tasked to design the on-site spatial elements and the user flow to position the service as a fast, dedicated, cost-and-client-friendly service provider.

Analyzing, designing and service scenarios

By analyzing different pick-up types, interviewing consumers and employees, and performing service safaris of both the current and competitive services, we laid out a framework that enabled strategic input and evaluation of design decisions for the customer journey and experience. This was used to initiate a collaborative process of designing new scenarios, tapping into the knowledge of a multidisciplinary team of marketeers, strategists and designers. Newly developed scenarios were used to list and describe the processes and touchpoints that had to be designed or redesigned. Using the criteria, such as total service delivery time, a broad array of solutions were developed: interaction modules, architectural solutions and signalisation concepts.

Spatial service system

The value of its solution is not only how well each individual component is designed. The real value is sum of all its parts, how well they integrate into each other. Reducing the time you spend on picking up your groceries, will depend on the time it takes to understand the architecture, which will be supported by wayfinding solutions or how car-friendly the site is. It will also depend on the time spent on interaction modules, such as the scanning or checkout-module, where the shape of the hardware and or comprehendability of the screens is important. It will even depend on how well you can maneuver your cart through each passage.

Develop the restaurant concept of the future

The Colmar Group hired us to develop the restaurant concept of the future, combining authentic, healthy, and traditional food with more efficient service and production processes, while rejuvenating its client mix. Can you combine sourcing and retaining good personnel, keeping operating costs under control (of which personnel costs are typically by far the largest category), optimizing service levels & processing times, while ensuring a comfortable, relaxed, and positive customer experience in order to maximize client retention.

Look-and-feel reflects the restaurant's core values

In order to retain the traditional human interaction with the customer, the dishes are served by a waiter – therefore, the customer experience is comparable to that of a more traditional restaurant. The restaurant’s interior, its choice of colors, materials, light, and decoration are all carefully selected and curated to holistically reflect and support the restaurant’s characteristic.

Minimal processing times

In its restaurant, clients can order their dish via a practically self-explanatory digital menu card on an iPad that is available on every table. The digital application gives tips and provides background information where required. Customers can therefore autonomously order their dish, but a waiter is available in case of questions. The digital order system ensures equal customer attention and a timely order and preparation process.

Open kitchen concept

In its kitchen, the choice of dishes is optimized such that no experienced chefs are required. Instead, while the overall menu variety is satisfactory, dishes are composed of a reduced number of pick-and-place ingredients. A high-temperature conveyer furnace prepares the dish to perfection within a couple of minutes. Consequently, the number of required personnel in the kitchen is reduced to a minimum, while at the same time ensuring minimal preparation times for customer dishes.

Up-market school supplies with an epic design for teenagers

Our client asked us to design an original look for its school supplies and the packaging thereof.

Immerse in the world of young people

We immersed ourselves in the world of youngsters to find out what they like. We found out that they want hip and cool school supplies to show off. Young generation Z-ers require awesome gadgets that are cool, chill, and ‘epic’, and we gave them just that – with a wink and a nod to the parents.

Let's doodle!

Doodling (i.e. scribbling) is something nearly all teenagers do – whether consciously or unconsciously. Names, drawing and logos are scribbled all over pencil cases, notebooks, and book bags. Their drawing style is often influenced by comics, cartoons and (animated) films.

The design

Our starting point was a large and very crowded drawing in the style of a doodle that shows all attributes of the world of teenagers. Kangourou's school products, and what they are used for, are all incorporated in the drawing. This ‘master visual’ is used as a visual system, which is returning on all product packages with slight variations by highlighting a different focus point.

Packaging

By rotating the master visual, we could constantly generate a new fragment of the doodle. Every product category therefore has a different doodle fragment on its packaging, showing a scene that focuses on the product in question. We also use variations in the background colours. No monotony, just a cool and chill design. It makes learning more fun!

A modern and appealing drinking bottle that is fun to use

Kambukka hired us to develop trendy drinking solutions for people on the go that suit every occasion. By combining aesthetics with smart functionality, we helped them to realize a broad range of drinkware that fits everybody’s lifestyle and personality.

Together we stand stronger

To meet the needs of different kinds of consumers all around the world our product designers, branding experts and innovation consults had to work in close collaboration with the Kambukka management. Achilles Design accompanied the client in the whole process, from early sketches to industrial production.

A smart range of thermal and water bottles

We like to introduce you to Etna, Olympus, Elton, Lagoon and Reno. All of them fully leakproof, available in fashionable colors and providing a smooth drinking experience thanks to the patent pending product features.