Gardena Bluetooth and Gardena Smart are the luxury series in the range of the popular German manufacturer from the garden industry. So far, however, they have not been sufficiently visually recognizable as such. The packaging design of the remote-controlled products differed only slightly from the other products from Gardena and did not convey the special position. However, this was about to change. On behalf of the company, we turned the appearance of Gardena Bluetooth and Gardena Smart around 360 degrees.
The great distinctive feature of the Bluetooth and Smart product series lies in their sophisticated technology. For example, the gardening tools, known as Robotics, can be conveniently controlled using a smartphone, either via Bluetooth connectivity or – in the case of the even more luxurious Smart series – with a wifi connection. The smart solution even makes it possible to start watering or mowing the lawn in the home garden in a relaxed manner from the other end of the world. This technical sophistication should show everywhere what it can do and is worth – even on the packaging.
The original packaging design was white and therefore bright, yes, but there was no trace of luxury. In order to show off the exclusive role of the Bluetooth series and especially the Smart series – by far the most expensive in the Gardena range – a radical change was needed. And we chose the most radical, but at the same time most obvious and harmonious variant: Instead of plain white, the packaging design now comes in black.
Black embodies elegance, is noble and classy, and is also considered mysterious – in short, it is the perfect color to wrap high-quality premium products such as Gardena’s Robotics, items that simply offer much more than solid average. But black also carries certain risks. Used incorrectly, the uncompromisingly dark background can quickly completely drown out the actual product and its features. Our solution: The turquoise Glow makes essential details shine out attractively.
The fact that the Glow is turquoise is no coincidence: this color represents Gardena’s corporate design like no other. It can be found on almost all of the brand’s products. The icons are also designed in turquoise, as is the name of the respective series – Bluetooth and Smart, respectively.
Speaking of icons: These were still embedded in dark gray on the white packaging. However, we have said goodbye to this for the rejuvenated packaging design – as well as to the turquoise line that still ran all around the predecessor cartons. However, the line has not completely disappeared. It now appears discreetly as a vertical white border line that visually separates the product shot from the icons and gives the design additional structure and clarity.
Other colors that we have included in the packaging design are orange, gray and white. Consumers associate the Gardena brand with each of these. Orange and white in particular develop an immensely intense luminosity on the black and thus, together with the Glow, successfully help to ensure that the background really does remain background.
What was also important in the redesign was to communicate the connection between technology and nature in an expressive way, because this is what characterizes Gardena Bluetooth and Gardena Smart. We succeeded in this primarily with the illustrations around the product shot. They are designed in the shape of sound waves and feature natural symbols – flowers and leaves.
Many small ideas ultimately led to the big result – a packaging design that reflects exactly what it is supposed to: Luxury and exclusivity as well as high (added) value through the fascinating fusion of the technical world with beautiful nature. Some courage was undoubtedly also required to break so radically with the classic white design system and choose the completely opposite black as the basis. But as we all know, courage is often rewarded…
