Responses by Ryan Crouchman, partner and vice president of design, LG2.

Background: Health Hut is a Canadian natural products retailer with store locations in Toronto and Muskoka, Ontario. As its physical and online presence expanded, it needed to rethink its brand to stand out in the increasingly saturated, code-heavy wellness category. The purpose was to create a visual identity that would position Health Hut as a premium brand as well as designing a flexible packaging system that would let it easily add new products to its house brand over the coming years.

Design thinking: The visual identity was built around a powerful, perfectly symmetrical H icon that echoes ideas of stability, balance and harmony—concepts integral to the brand’s general ethos. Equally important is the catchy effect of the icon on store exteriors and packaging labels, helping the brand pop on the street and on shelves, while still maintaining an overall minimalist aesthetic.

Challenges: It was a delicate balance trying to be high impact while embracing simplicity. We didn’t want to design another quiet minimal brand—as beautiful as that can be—so finding that sweet spot between the two was the main creative challenge.

Favorite details: I absolutely love that you can spot a Health Hut product from across the room because of our big H. It’s confident without feeling cocky, and it’s loud but not in an obnoxious way.

Visual influences: Put simply, we are inspired by minimalism and order, but not at the expense of looking generic or too clinical.

Specific project demands: As a Canadian brand, our design system needs to accommodate both English and French copy on all sides of the label—including the ingredients and instructions. As you can imagine this can be quite challenging. We’re proud that we established an easy-to-use design system that incorporates all information in both languages, while maintaining a clean, pared-down approach.

lg2.com