Aesop commissioned us to design and art direct the packaging and campaign for their 2023 Gift Kit. Aesop’s annual Gift Kit is released to coincide with Mother’s Day celebrations across the globe. Moving away from a gendered focus in order to celebrate wider forms of care-giving, our direction and visuals expanded across a full graphic and photographic campaign featured online and across Aesop stores worldwide.
Our artwork is inspired by the harmonious sound and meaning behind ‘Mimamori’ – a combination of the Japanese words for ‘watch’ and ‘guard’. Drawing visual reference from Alexander Calder’s mobiles, the graphic forms are developed from abstractions of hands and eyes as symbols of protection. Across the packaging and photographic campaign shot by Ivona Chrzastek, organic forms bleed off the edges, fill up the space and interact with one another, evoking a network of support and strength. The ambiguity between forms and counterforms, positive and negative, and subject and background is reinforced by a minimal colour palette, while a textured background adds warmth to the compositions.
