Responses by Lais Ikoma; creative director; Polar, Ltda.
Background: Niul is the first cosmetics brand in Brazil to adopt aluminum cans as packaging, driven by the fact that nearly 100 percent of aluminum in the country is recycled compared to only 1.3 percent of plastic. Niul’s purpose is to offer a plastic-free solution for the beauty and wellness market, which greatly lacks this option. Its target audience is conscious consumers seeking better products; in addition to sustainable packaging, Niul delivers clean, vegan and cruelty-free formulas.
Design thinking: Our goal was to place the planet at the core of the identity and make aluminum part of the visual assets, not just the packaging material. Since the planet’s health is the main brand driver, we built the identity around geometric shapes inspired by world maps, which we made flexible to support text and images. The identity also references aluminum’s infinite recyclability through a logo and motion system inspired by its melting and reshaping process, expressing transformation and continuity. The typeface duo reflects this concept as well: Greed delivers impact and solidity, while DaVinci has a liquid-like appearance with interconnected serifs.
Challenges: The greatest challenge was to communicate ecological innovation without falling into clichés or expected aesthetics often used by sustainable brands. From the start, we had to ensure the visual identity and communications kept a clear distance from the drinks and beverages universe so the public would not associate the cans with that market. Aluminum cans have been around for a long time, and we wanted them to feel familiar while making it clear that their use in cosmetics is completely new to this category.
We also needed to craft an identity that felt fresh, distinctive and approachable while remaining rooted in authenticity and responsibility. Achieving this balance required careful exploration of visual metaphors, tone of voice, and how design could embody circularity in both form and function.
Favorite details: We really like the solution of the elements inspired by world maps. They are concise, super simple and clean yet play an important role in brand recognition, bringing visual sophistication to the layouts. They are also highly scalable and flexible, working seamlessly across all mediums.
We are also super proud of the art direction. Instead of following the usual approach and showing cosmetic products in beautiful bathrooms, we wanted the brand to tell a bigger story. Our solution was to give context to the products by making them blend with nature.
Visual influences: We drew inspiration primarily from cartography and atlases of the 18th and 19th centuries, from aluminum as a material and its recycling cycles to the colors of nature, especially the Brazilian biomes of the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon.
New lessons: We learned a great deal about print production, including techniques, challenges and solutions for designing and printing on aluminum cans—how colors behave once printed, how reflections affect their appearance, how finishes protect the product inside, and even how there is a proper way to preserve the texture and structure of the packaging once the product is inside.
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