Welly

What we did

Structural Packaging
Materials Research
Manufacturing Liaison

Year

2019

Overview

First aid had become a stagnant category filled with serious products that only spoke to those moments when things go wrong. Welly First Aid freshened up the aisle by introducing fun, playful preparedness with premium products in a desirable tin package. The first line of Welly First Aid products debuted prominently at Target Stores in April 2019 and judging by its reception there will be more to come from the Welly team…

Welly Structural packaging by Prime Studio

BRIEF

Make first aid fun

Welly was founded by Eric Ryan, the design-focused entrepreneur behind Method and Olly, and Doug Stukenborg, a former retail merchandising executive. They decided early on to partner with Prime Studio and branding agency Partners & Spade (with who we previously developed Harry’s). The three teams worked closely together to bring the vision for Welly to reality.

That vision centered around breathing life into the first aid retail and personal experience: How can first aid inspire people instead of scare them? How can the product experience be a joy rather than a pain? It was an ambitious undertaking that focused on better products, aspirational messaging, thoughtful packaging, easier navigation in-store and an enhanced at-home experience.

PROCESS

Designing for a life fully lived

We began by studying the current landscape of product on shelf to understand what opportunities there were and how Welly might fit in. We also researched the end-user experience after purchase - Where do people store their bandages and ointments ? Do people travel with first aid items ? How easy is it to find the right bandage when your kid is sitting on your knee crying and bleeding ?

All the teams agreed that primary packaging was the going to be the most impactful aspect of this new brands launch. At Prime Studio we were considering form factors, suitable materials and ease of use at the same time that Partners and Spade were honing the brands positioning.

Their tongue-in-cheek approach helped feed into our design thinking and packaging explorations

According to them - bandages weren't just for cuts and scrapes anymore - they were Bravery Badges. Signs of a life well lived.

Because fun isn't always safe - but it's always fun !

Throughout the structural development we considered many different requirements. We knew we wanted to incorporate modularity but the question was how much should it drive the structural design? Then there was the question on how iconic the design should be – we wanted something instantly recognizable but not at the expense of efficiency and ease of use.

Finally, appropriate materials selection was high on the list – we knew we wanted to develop structural packaging that was more premium and consumer friendly than a paperboard box but the question was just how premium was appropriate?

Tin quickly surfaced as a potentially disruptive material - it has a long history in the First Aid world which, unfortunately, has disappeared for the most part. We wanted to bring back that magic and develop a package which people would actually repurpose and reuse rather than recycle. Tin is a sustainable material choice and is able to be decorated in a multitude of ways as well as being waterproof and sturdy enough to throw in a purse or glove compartment so it was a great fit for our needs.

The rigidity of the container helped as we did an exhaustive exploration of internal product organization. When you need a bandage nobody wants to open up a container to find jumbled up, hard to reach product. Reliably organized and accessible product was a high priority and we netted out with a variety of custom molded pulp inserts which also fit into our sustainable materials narrative.

Currently there are only two tin sizes – the “full” tin and the “half” tin. That’s one of the beautiful parts about the patent-pending system because it allows for modularity, stackability and improved organization in the home. It sounds like a very simple idea – because it is – but it took a ton of work to optimize the form factor to work with such a wide variety of contents.

In the end over a year of development working closely with Partners & Spade and the Welly team yielded some exciting results and many memorable experiences. It was a uniquely collaborative process and we continue to work together on new initiatives for the Welly brand.

“Prime Studio was the perfect ID partner for this project. They understood our vision immediately and executed it with the perfect blend of creativity and production pragmatism. ”

ERIC RYAN Co-Founder, Welly

RESULT

Welly Prepared

Welly First Aid is a line of 25 premium products ranging from bandages to ointments to tools. The tin packages as well as the bandages themselves are beautifully decorated with color and pattern to stick out on the shelf as well as on your body. In addition to stacking and offering product navigation, the tins also contain thoughtfully organized product making it easy to get that bandage out right when you need it most.

So, go ahead - Get Welly

2022 Update

We continue to work with Welly as their industrial design partner of choice and have developed multiple additional SKU's for them since their launch - including large size First Aid kits with optimized interior organization and e-commerce specific refills and paperboard cartons. Currently Welly is found in more than 44,000 stores, including Target, Walmart, CVS, Rite Aid, Kroger, Meijer, Stop & Shop, Hy-Vee, Amazon and more.

We were also thrilled to develop the structural packaging solution for Welly's move into OTC medications. Welly Remedies are shifting the way people approach “sick care” to “self-care” by providing a holistic assortment of proactive and reactive health care products that are science-backed and free from the things you don’t need – synthetic dyes, artificial flavors, talc and parabens.