OUR WORK / Consumer brands

Renew Perfect Colour

Packaging Refresh & Brand Evolution

Renew Perfect Colour was a bold, new-to-market hair colour range designed to introduce vibrant, fashion-forward shades to the South African FMCG space. Combining a pre-lightening system with high-impact colour payoff, the product repositioned the Renew brand as innovative, expressive, and category-disruptive.

Explore the Story

Client / organisation: Renew / Godrej
Connected capabilities: Structural packaging · Colour · Launch
Project context: Product range launch

Our involvement Delivered by Lynette Lombaard in a senior internal brand and design capacity.

THE CONTEXT

Creative ambition. Technical precision.

Renew Perfect Colour was developed as a bold, high-impact addition to the Renew portfolio, introducing a pre-lightening system designed to unlock vibrant, fashion-forward shades at home.

At a time when unconventional colours were still emerging in the South African market, this range positioned Renew as progressive, confident, and performance-led.

THE STRATEGIC CHALLENGE

Launching a bold innovation into a conservative category

The South African hair colour market was dominated by traditional tones and conventional packaging systems.

The complexity was not just visual; it was behavioural. Consumers had to trust a process they were not yet familiar with.

Introduce vivid, fashion-forward shades
Educate consumers on a two-step pre-lightening and colouring process
Simplify what could feel technically intimidating
Establish Renew as a performance leader
Stand out in an already visually competitive category

THE STORY / 01

Strategic approach

The strategy centred on disruption with discipline, making bold colour the hero while simplifying a technically complex two-step process.

The design needed to feel fearless and fashion-forward, yet structured enough to build consumer trust and ensure clarity at shelf.

THE STORY / 02

Disruption with clarity

This was not just packaging design; it was product storytelling.

The design had to feel fearless, but never confusing.

Make colour the hero: one model across all SKUs to emphasise transformation.
Own boldness confidently: use high-impact, fashion-inspired mood direction.
Simplify complexity visually: clear, structured hierarchy to guide consumers through the pre-lighten and colour system.
Ensure credibility: precise colour matching between formulation, swatches, model hair, and pack visuals.
Create flagship presence: position the range as a statement product within the broader Renew portfolio.

Fearless, but never confusing.

Renew Perfect Colour launch cover introducing the pre-lightening colour system.

Original Renew market and innovation context alongside the pre-lighten, colour and condition sequence.

THE STORY / 03

From concept to full market launch

Lynette led the design from concept to full market launch.

The goal was to make the colour believable, aspirational, and achievable.

Structural packaging concept, including triangular lid concept development
Full packaging system across 8 SKUs
Colour correction and retouching of a single hero model per shade
Technical colour matching with Product Development & Integrity
Swatch accuracy validation
Instruction leaflet design from scratch
Inner element labels and component artwork
Mood boards and concept direction
Marketing alignment and rollout assets
Trade presenter materials
Supporting campaign visuals and digital templates

Renew structural packaging concept, Option 4, with a contrasting banded identity and two colour representations.

Renew structural packaging concept, Option 1, with an angular opening and two colour representations.

THE STORY / 04

Design intelligence

Designing Renew Perfect Colour required balancing creative expression with technical precision. The structural pack concept, colour system, model retouching, and on-pack communication were all engineered to ensure that what consumers saw on shelf accurately reflected the result in-box.

From colour correction and swatch alignment to simplifying a multi-step process into intuitive visual cues, every element was built to reduce uncertainty while amplifying impact.

THE STORY / 05

Model consistency

One stock model was selected across the range.

Strengthen brand recognition
Reduce visual clutter
Make the hair colour transformation the focal point
Improve SKU differentiation through tone variation alone

The Renew Perfect Colour range showing coordinated shade variants and consistent model treatment.

Renew Perfect Colour Teal packaging dieline with the structural lid, colour system, instructions and component communication.

THE STORY / 06

Technical colour integrity

Working directly with Product Development, the pack visuals were aligned to the product’s real performance.

In a category where trust is everything, colour accuracy was non-negotiable.

Hair was colour corrected to match physical swatches
Swatches were calibrated against actual formulation output
Pack visuals reflected realistic achievable results

THE STORY / 07

Simplifying a multi-step process

Pre-lightening and colouring introduces cognitive load.

The packaging design structured the steps clearly, marked key usage parameters, highlighted limitations, and reduced overwhelm through visual sequencing.

One important limitation communicated was that the product was not suitable for dark hair without the correct lightening level.

Bold does not mean chaotic. Disruptive does not mean unclear.

Renew Perfect Colour consumer and customer propositions in the original trade presenter.

Renew Perfect Colour component breakdown, listing information and launch-support details.

FROM STRATEGY TO EXECUTION

Execution detail

This project extended far beyond visual design. It required technical coordination, structural problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration to bring a complex product to market.

Every element had to balance bold visual disruption with clarity, compliance, and manufacturability.

The outcome was a launch-ready system that translated concept into shelf-ready execution consistently, accurately, and at scale.

Structural packaging concept development: triangular lid and side-close system
Full outer pack artwork across 8 SKUs
Colour correction and swatch calibration to ensure true-to-pack accuracy
Instruction leaflet design and technical content layout
Inner element labels and compliance information
Trade presenter and retail display collateral
Research-backed refinement prior to rollout
Production-ready artwork and print oversight

WHAT THE WORK ENABLED

Market impact

The original case study reports that the launch contributed to Renew achieving the number-one market position in value and volume share. This describes a wider Renew brand achievement, rather than an isolated result attributable solely to the packaging work.

The original market-leadership artwork records 23.7% value share and 28.4% volume share, citing AC Nielsen, December 2016.

For the team and for Lynette, this was a defining brand moment.