Brand · Product · Packaging · Website · Stop motion
Bee Central
A reusable wax wrap brand I created from the ground up during the 2020 lockdown. I designed the product and made it by hand, then designed everything around it: the brand, logos, packaging, print, website and shop, and the stop motion videos that showed it off.
Inspired by nature
The idea behind Bee Central.
BEE CENTRAL is the result of a lifetime of creativity and a love of design, nature, Aotearoa and our planet. The events of 2020 showed us, when we were forced to tread lightly, mother nature took a deep breath. It has taught us to be kind and mindful, it highlights how fragile our planet is. As global citizens, we can make better choices about how we live and the products we choose. The events of 2020 showed us that reducing waste, pollution and our footprint, can make a huge difference.
Bee Proud to make the right choice!
The product
Designed, developed and made by hand.
Bee Wraps are a natural alternative to plastic cling film. Each one is hand-picked cotton coated with certified New Zealand beeswax, pine resin and jojoba. I developed the wax recipe myself, then made every wrap in-house.
Warm a wrap in your hands and it shapes itself around a sandwich, a block of cheese or half an avocado. When it is worn out, it is compostable.
The range
A pattern for every kitchen.
Kiwiana and Pacific prints, fruit and flora, retro fun and lunchbox favourites. Every pack wears the same kraft band, so a mixed shelf still reads as one brand.
Wraps from $8.50 to $16, twin-packs $24 to $30, Bee Pockets $9, Bee Box $16.50 to $18. Free shipping over $80 within NZ.
Brand, logos and packaging
One bee, one band, one calm palette.
A classic serif wordmark and a bee whose wings form an infinity loop. The logo suite covers the shop, the kraft pack band, labels and video.
Shop type is Raleway and Lato. The pack band and wordmark carry the serif.
Wrapagami
Teaching people to fold.
A Bee Wrap can fold into a bowl. I designed Wrapagami, a set of folding instruction sheets for the Bee Box, and filmed a how-to video to go with them.
Beyond the flat wrap
New shapes for real lunches.
Bee Pockets for snacks and sandwiches, a fold-up Bee Box, cheese wraps and a dog box that clips to the lead. Each one was designed and made in-house.
Stop motion video
Little films that show the product working.
I created the stop motion videos myself, frame by frame, for the shop and the Bee Central YouTube channel.
How to videos
The online shop
A full shop, designed to browse.
Collections, product pages, wish list, account, cart and checkout. Every range had its own page, with round photo tiles to make the whole line easy to browse.
What I did
Everything, from the ground up.
- 01BrandName, story, voice and look.
- 02LogosThe bee mark and wordmark in versions for web, print, packaging and video.
- 03Website and online shopCollections, product pages, cart and checkout, designed and built.
- 04Product design and creationThe wax recipe, the fabrics and every wrap made by hand.
- 05Packaging designKraft bands, labels and boxes.
- 06PrintLabels, bands, cards and instruction sheets.
- 07Stop motion videoShot, animated and edited by me, and published on YouTube.
The story behind it
My Covid project.
Bee Central was my Covid project. It kept me sane, and it probably drove everyone around me a little mad. Bees visited constantly while I perfected my wax recipe, and it brought me joy every day.
Lockdown gave me time to reflect. Nature came back: bees, birds and quiet roads. I had my garden, my work, my family and my creativity, and I loved every minute of it.
Once the world got back on its feet, the time the wraps took away from my real job meant I could not carry it on. It is still there, and who knows, it may rise again.
