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Work Brand identity Custom lettering Packaging

Gum Pillows

Soft lettering. A bold five-flavour family.

Problem
A five-flavour nicotine-pouch range needed its own personality, across five strengths per flavour.
Solution
Rounded bubble lettering as the constant, with the flavour colour changing around it on lid, wrap and back.
Result
25 SKUs and 75 print-ready labels, from first file to final artwork in 16 days.

My role Brand identity · packaging range

Gum Pillows — Cool Mint

Gum Pillows Cool Mint

3D model — original artwork Ø 60 mm face label, 228.6 × 14 mm wrap and Ø 60 mm back label from the production files.

Brand identity and packaging range for five nicotine-pouch flavours, built around rounded bubble lettering and pillow shapes.

Three Gum Pillows tins, Cool Mint, Black Currant and Lime Time, lid up on blue paper with gum, mint, lime and blackcurrants. Studio composite: production artwork rendered in 3D at the scene's scale and light, laid on a generated top-down scene.Open full-size image
Studio composite — production artwork in a generated setCool Mint, Black Currant and Lime Time

Part by part

Lettering as the pack

  1. The name becomes the shape

    The name becomes the shape

    Rounded lettering and pillow-like shapes fill the lid, so the brand reads first.

  2. Hierarchy over decoration

    Hierarchy over decoration

    The stacked name dominates; flavour, strength and pouch count drop to a simpler style.

  3. Information moves off the lid

    Information moves off the lid

    Supporting text shifts to the 228.6 × 14 mm wrap and the reverse.

  4. The reverse

    The reverse

    Every back label carries its own EAN-13 barcode and EU UFI code.

  5. Five flavours

    Five flavours

    The production files cover 25 SKUs: five flavours, five strengths each.

  6. Twenty pouches a tin

    Twenty pouches a tin

    Each lid states 20 nicotine pouches.

3D: the production artwork on the real dimensions

Identity

Colour, type and system

Gum Pillows mark.
Gum Pillows mark

Palette

Sampled from the production files

  • #323353 RGB 50 51 83
  • #36923C RGB 54 146 60
  • #903489 RGB 144 52 137
  • #7DA39C RGB 125 163 156
  • #9DD5E5 RGB 157 213 229
  • #FBFBFB RGB 251 251 251

Type

Gum Pillows lettering in use.
Wrap label, 228.6 × 14 mm

System

  • Gum Pillows variant 1.
  • Gum Pillows variant 2.
  • Gum Pillows variant 3.
  • Gum Pillows variant 4.
  • Gum Pillows variant 5.

Palette sampled from the production files; type and system as printed

Brandbook

The system, board by board

Board: five Gum Pillows face labels with flavour names.Open full-size image
Presentation board — compiled from the design filesFive flavours, one tin
Board: the Gum Pillows Cool Mint face, back and around labels, with sizes.Open full-size image
Presentation board — compiled from the design filesCool Mint: face, back and around labels
Board: Gum Pillows Cool Mint face and around labels in five strengths.Open full-size image
Presentation board — compiled from the design filesCool Mint in five strengths

The artwork

Designed in detail

Five Gum Pillows lid labels: Cool Mint, Black Currant, Lime Time, Peppermint Maxxx and Grape Ape.Open full-size image
Original artworkFive supplied flavour lids

The range

5 variants, one system

Turn them in 3D
  • Gum Pillows Cool Mint Cool Mint
  • Gum Pillows Black Currant Black Currant
  • Gum Pillows Lime Time Lime Time
  • Gum Pillows Peppermint Maxxx Peppermint Maxxx
  • Gum Pillows Grape Ape Grape Ape

Design decisions

Why it looks this way

  1. Gum Pillows Cool Mint lid label with rounded bubble lettering and pillow shapes.Open full-size image
    Original artworkCool Mint lid

    The name becomes the shape

    Rounded lettering and pillow-like shapes give the name a visual form and fill the lid, so the brand reads first.

  2. Close-up of the Gum Pillows lettering on a lid.Open full-size image
    Detail

    Hierarchy over decoration

    The heavy stacked name dominates; flavour, strength and pouch count drop to a simpler supporting style.

  3. Gum Pillows Cool Mint reverse label with Croatian copy and barcode.Open full-size image
    Original artworkReverse label

    Information moves off the lid

    Supporting text shifts to the wrap and reverse, so each surface stays purposeful.

  4. Outline study traced from the final Gum Pillows lettering.Open full-size image
    Reconstructed design studyTraced from the final lettering for this portfolio — not an early sketch

    Reading the letter shapes

    An outline study isolates the soft, inflated forms.

In context

Gum Pillows Cool Mint tin with the lid lifted above the base, on a pale blue set. Studio render, production artwork.Open full-size image
Studio render — production artworkCool Mint, the lid lifted
Five Gum Pillows tins lying lid up in two rows on a pale blue set. Studio render, production artwork.Open full-size image
Studio render — production artworkFive flavours, lids up
Close view of the Gum Pillows Cool Mint lid leaning on a pale blue pedestal. Studio composite: production artwork in a generated set.Open full-size image
Studio composite — production artwork in a generated setThe lettering, close
A tower of five Gum Pillows tins showing the side wraps, a Cool Mint tin in front. Studio render made from the production artwork.Open full-size image
Studio render — production artworkThe wrap carries the name around the tin
Five Gum Pillows tins from above on concrete, the centre tin turned over to show its back label. Studio render made from the production artwork.Open full-size image
Studio render — production artworkFrom above, one tin turned to its back
Gum Pillows tins stacked with the Cool Mint tin standing in front, cyan and violet rim light. Studio render made from the production artwork.Open full-size image
Studio render — production artworkFive flavours, one lettering style
Five Gum Pillows tins on pastel pedestals of different heights against a pink backdrop. Studio composite: production artwork in a generated set.Open full-size image
Studio composite — production artwork in a generated setFive flavours, five pastel plinths

Campaign

A proposed direction

Gum Pillows campaign direction: feed posts, stories and a typographic frame made from the project imagery. Proposed, not published.Open full-size image
Proposed campaign direction — not publishedStories in five flavours of pastel: posts, stories and a typographic frame

By the numbers

flavours
5
flavours
SKUs: five strengths each
25
SKUs: five strengths each
print-ready labels
75
print-ready labels
from first file to final artwork
16days
from first file to final artwork
Process & productionFull write-up, print specs, timeline, files, credits

Overview

Gum Pillows uses the same round-tin format as CALI but needed its own voice. Five flavours are supplied: Cool Mint, Black Currant, Lime Time, Peppermint Maxxx and Grape Ape.

The challenge

The range needed a distinct personality that stays recognisable across five flavour designs and several packaging surfaces.

Creative direction

Rounded lettering and pillow shapes are the constant; flavour colour changes around that silhouette. Supporting information moves to the wrap and reverse so the lid stays about the brand.

What was delivered

Five flavour designs with front, reverse and wrap artwork.

Design value

A distinct visual voice supported by rules that can be reused across the family. It shows range design and coordinated artwork rather than a verified commercial uplift.

The problem is framed from the finished work, not quoted from a client brief.

Delivered

  • 25 face labels (5 flavours × 5 strengths)
  • 25 wrap labels
  • 25 back labels, each with EAN-13 and UFI code

Built to print

Face label
Ø 60 mm, one per SKU
Wrap label
228.6 × 14 mm
Back label
Ø 60 mm, Croatian regulatory copy
Strengths
3 · 6 · 9 · 12 · 15 mg for every flavour
Codes
EAN-13 barcode and EU UFI code on every SKU
Files
Adobe Illustrator, one vector PDF per label and strength

Timeline

  1. 7 Aug 2025

    First face and wrap files

  2. 8 Aug 2025

    Back labels for every strength

  3. 22 Aug 2025

    Final artwork for all 25 SKUs

Production files

Gum Pillows Cool Mint wrap band.Open full-size image
Production fileWrap band
Gum Pillows Lime Time in all five strengths, 3 to 15 mg: lid and wrap label for each.Open full-size image
Production fileLime Time in all five strengths: lid and wrap for each SKU

Evidence

Verified fact
Production files cover 25 SKUs (five flavours, five strengths each) with face, wrap and back labels; each lid states 20 nicotine pouches.
Every back label carries its own EAN-13 barcode and EU UFI code.
Design reading
The lettering silhouette, not the frame, identifies the brand.
Intended benefit
A voice clearly different from CALI in the same tin format.

Credits & notes

  • Brand identity and label artwork — Faraz Khadivdjam
  • Lettering study — reconstructed for this portfolio
  • Studio renders — made in Blender from the production artwork, 2026
  • Studio composites — production artwork rendered in Blender on background plates generated with Magnific (Freepik) from text prompts, 2026
  • Studio sets — production artwork on the 3D models, rendered in Blender, 2026 (no generated imagery)
  • Flat lays — production artwork rendered in Blender on top-down scenes generated with Magnific (Freepik) from text prompts, 2026

In short

The rounded lettering does the brand work, so five flavours can change colour without losing the name.

Next project Low Hum A beer range built on one quiet idea.

Contact

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Tell me what you’re making, what you need designed, and your timeline. For design roles or collaborations, email me directly.

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