A premium DTC skincare brand built to compete on design from day one

A category where the brand is the product

Premium skincare is one of the few categories where credibility, packaging, and visual identity drive purchase decisions as much as the formulation itself. A product can be excellent and still fail if the brand doesn't carry the visual weight expected at that price point.

SKN Labs was a fully owned brand — custom-formulated from the ground up, which meant no white-label shortcuts and no existing equity to build on. Everything had to earn its place: the name, the positioning, the packaging, the campaign, and the eCommerce experience all had to work together from day one.

Scandinavian minimalism meets DTC precision

I built SKN Labs as the most complete brand AvantGarde had launched — designed and executed across every touchpoint, from identity system through to the physical packaging in a customer's hands. The positioning was Scandinavian-inspired: clean, confident, ingredient-led, and deliberately minimal. A brand that let the product do the talking.

Packaging was central. I designed the full jar and label system, sourced physical components to match the quality specification, and oversaw production — keeping the brand experience consistent between what the campaign promised and what the customer received.

• Full brand identity — logo, color, typography, tone of voice, and brand guidelines
• Packaging system — jar, label, and outer pack design and supplier sourcing
• Campaign creative — digital and print assets, product photography direction
• eCommerce site — product pages, checkout flow, and front-end development

A launch-ready brand built to scale

SKN Labs launched successfully and validated strong product performance with its early customer base. The brand system, packaging, and eCommerce platform were built to scale — with additional investment, the platform had clear runway to expand significantly into a growing category.

SKN Labs represented the most brand-complete product AvantGarde Brands had built: custom-formulated, professionally packaged, fully designed, and sold as a wholly owned brand from day one. A proof that a small team with design discipline can build something that competes with established players on brand alone.