Need a creativity boost? Try a visual design team challenge

A few months back, the WW visual design team participated in a workshop to exercise creativity and boost team collaboration. We wanted to step outside of our daily routines and think about design beyond our designated WW product areas and platforms.

The workshop prompted designers (divided into four teams of two) to pick one design challenge to work on for roughly three hours. The three challenges were:

A. Modernize and simplify the packaging for Canada Dry.
B. Design one brand in the style of another.
C. Design an iOS widget for the Venmo app.

All four groups chose challenge B, with the exception of one group doing a combination of A and B.

Going off brand: four design mash-ups

What did the teams come up with? Not surprisingly, the work ranged from the beautiful and thoughtful to the ridiculous. And that’s a good thing, as it’s a reflection of our team’s amazing individual talents and personalities, which we sometimes forget. Let’s break down the executions of the four teams.

Team 1 chose to design Ben & Jerry’s in the style of IKEA. This was an interesting combination, as the Ben & Jerry’s branding has a loud, colorful, illustrative, and playful style, while IKEA is classic Scandinavian minimalism. The result is a clean, legible packaging line with pops of bright color to differentiate the flavors of ice cream. In the context of the website, the use of IKEA’s simple and intuitive interfaces pairs nicely with the packaging refresh.

Team 1 also tapped into the iconic IKEA instruction manual, mapping out the proper way to indulge in ice cream.

Team 2 chose to design Taco Bell in the style of Nike. Similarly to IKEA, Nike has a clean and minimalistic style that showcases the product–typically as silhouettes. Oddly enough, when the Taco Bell images take on a more silhouetted look, the food appears much more appetizing.

Compare that with these images of the food on the actual Taco Bell site.

We also thought a to-go shoe box for nachos was a particularly fun idea to add, as well as the spice level distinguished by a sneaker.

Taco Bell might want to take a few tips from Nike.

Team 3 explored a really nice evolution to Canada Dry’s packaging. Paying homage to the natural beauty of Canada, the team wondered what the can might look like by showcasing the clean and clear waterways of the country, a nice metaphor for a refreshing beverage. They also created a simplified logo lockup with a modernized brand mark on the center of the can to highlight Canada’s various cities. Here is the before and after:

In addition to the packaging refresh, team 3 designed the Canada Dry website in the style of HSBC.

We’ve saved the absurd for last. Team 4 decided to design Harley Davidson in the style of Pampers. What does that look like exactly? This:

Going forward: key takeaways

I think the entire team found value in exercising creative muscles that may not have been used for a while. Many designers mentioned that they were thinking beyond visual design and playing with copy and UX. Perhaps more importantly, I think it was a much-needed team-building event. We had the opportunity to partner with other visual designers who typically work in other product areas. And given these days of nonstop Zooms and working from home, it felt like we were a team again, working together in the same room.

Which executions are your favorite? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

— Scott Grant, senior visual designer at WW

Interested in joining the WW team? Check out the Careers page to view technology job listings as well as open positions on other teams.