Brand Strategy · Identity · Packaging
Groundwork Insoles
A proprietary support brand built from naming through final packaging.
Naming · Identity · Package Architecture · ESD Differentiation · Production Artwork
01New proprietary brand
02Distinct product SKUs
4.25 × 11Production package format
End-to-EndNaming through final artwork
The Challenge
The package existed. The brand did not.
The original vendor dieline established the physical constraints: a hanging card, a large clear product window, a heel cutout, benefit icons, sizing, and limited space for retail information.
Beck's needed more than a reskin. The product needed an ownable name, credible identity, clear hierarchy, and a system that would prevent customers and store teams from confusing the standard and electrostatic-dissipative versions.
The Name
Groundwork became the foundation for a larger product family.
Early directions such as Pillar and Atlas emphasized support and endurance. Groundwork expressed the deeper role of the product: the foundation beneath comfort, stability, and performance.
It also gave the business room to grow beyond one insole. The name could support future comfort products, fitting aids, or adjacent private-label categories without sounding narrow or overly clinical.
Final Identity
One approved system. No concept-board clutter.
The final identity uses the clean Ground/Work wordmark, compact GW icon, charcoal base, and teal-to-cerulean accents. The approved lockups scale from packaging to small retail applications without relying on generic footprint or shield imagery.
Charcoal
#1A1A1A
#1A1A1A
Teal
#00897B
#00897B
Cerulean
#009FB3
#009FB3
White
#FFFFFF
#FFFFFF
Packaging Architecture
The window became the composition.
Instead of treating the large die cut as a limitation, the packaging uses it as the focal point. The actual insole becomes the hero while the surrounding panels carry the product promise, core benefits, quantity, sizing, and operational details.
The visual language was tested across multiple colorways before the system was reduced to two functional variants.
The packaging frames the product instead of covering it with marketing.
Two-SKU System
Color became an operational decision—not decoration.
The final packaging shares one master architecture while using teal and orange as unmistakable product codes. The distinction appears on the front, back, edges, benefit details, and supporting labels.
Standard anti-fatigue support
- Shared Groundwork master brand
- Comfort, cushioning, heel, and arch benefits
- Trim-to-fit sizing and retail information
- Immediate recognition for store teams
Electrostatic-dissipative version
- High-contrast orange product coding
- Dedicated ESD identification
- Repeated technical distinction across panels
- Same brand without operational ambiguity
Direction Testing
The identity held together in both dark and light retail environments.
Additional dark and light package studies tested how the brand could move between industrial authority and medical-retail clarity without losing recognition.
The Outcome
A generic product became an ownable private-label platform.
Groundwork moved from an unnamed vendor package to a complete brand and packaging system ready for production review and future expansion.
The result gives customers a clearer product story, store teams a safer SKU distinction, and Beck's a proprietary identity that can grow beyond a single insole.