Sometimes great packaging design is about knowing what to change and what to keep unchanged. Often it’s about turning what seem like design constraints into creative opportunities. When the time came for Yatta to upgrade, the popular Kenyan fruit drink turned to industry specialists to guarantee success.
The Just Design studio immediately took stock of the existing equity in the brand, benchmarking competitor landscapes to identify ways to ensure standout and differentiation. The resulting design steers progressed the brand by pushing the existing elements far enough to be exciting, but not so far that they become unrecognisable.
In the Kenyan drinks market there is a lot of bright colours and clutter, hence the new design is fresher and more modern with lots of open white space to punch through the visual noise. The logo is cleaned up and greatly upweighted to be the primary focal point. There was no option to reshoot product visuals, so the existing fruit photography was “recycled” in interesting crops that frame the pack and look new and fresh because of the way they have been re-treated. An ownable brand colour was introduced on seals and call-outs that house all secondary info. Key elements like the rays were maintained and reinterpreted.
Overall the design is punchy enough to attract spontaneous trial and will likely translate into increased volumes and market share. The new pack stands out strongly on shelf and is welcomed by brand team, trade and consumers as a game changer in an otherwise traditional category. Cheers to a fresher take on Yatta.
About Just Design
For fifteen years, Just Design has proven time and again that good thinking leads to great creative. With a national footprint and accounts across Africa, Middle East and Europe, they are the strategic design partners for many blue-chip clients and global brands, and are one of the top packaging design agencies in South Africa.
