# Conversational Brand-Voice Packaging

> A packaging approach in which the pack becomes a stage for a human voice: informal, first-person copy fills the sides and back, set in lettering and custom type that look made by a person, beside a small mark. The visual signature, shared by both brands, is large, irregular, hand-made-looking type with copy as the main graphic material and a small logo. Innocent (UK) is lighter and friendlier, Oatly (Sweden) denser and plainer; Oatly's Forsman & Bodenfors system treated the pack as advertising space.

- Period: 1998–present
- Where: Western Europe, Northern Europe, Global / networked
- Origin: London, UK (Innocent Drinks, founded 1998) and Sweden (Oatly)
- Branch: Postmodern
- Also known as: Chatty packaging, Brand voice packaging, Copy-led packaging
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/conversational-brand-packaging/

## How it works

- Write the pack copy in a first-person, speaking voice and give it the space of a label, not a footnote.
- Let the text itself be the graphic device, set large and loose on the sides and back of the pack.
- Draw the lettering and small illustrations so they look made by a person, not a system.
- Keep the logo a small, friendly mark and let the copy carry the personality.
- Joke at the product's own claims, rivals and legal limits, and print the joke on the pack.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (defining)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (characteristic)
- [Lowercase only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lowercase-only/) (characteristic)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Rounded & pill](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rounded-and-pill/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (defining)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (defining)
- [Ironic & self-aware](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ironic-and-self-aware/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (occasional)

Avoids: Generous white space, Geometric sans, Pastel, Abundant decoration, Emblems & badges, Authoritative & institutional, Luxurious & glamorous, 3D render

Palette: #ffffff, #f3efe6, #8a8a86, #6b4f3a, #2f5d9b

Typefaces: Oatly headlines: a mix of lettering and custom typefaces, including John Rounded and Toni Grotesk (Fonts In Use), Oatly body text: FF Magda, a distressed take on the Cubic typewriter style (Fonts In Use), Oatly lettering by Lars Elfman of Forsman & Bodenfors (Fonts In Use)

Known for: Innocent Drinks bottles, whose back-of-pack copy keeps a playful tone of voice (Innocent Drinks, founded 1998); Oatly cartons from the Forsman & Bodenfors packaging system (2014-2015), designed as part advertising space with brand attributes and benefits called out on pack; Oatly's invented brand names Pjölk, Brölk, Sölk and Trölk, trademarked in response to Arla adverts that used a fake Pjölk brand

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Alike in its design choices: [Escuela Bruguera (Spanish Humour Comics)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/escuela-bruguera.md) (1947–1986), 62% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Bitterkomix (Afrikaans Underground Comics)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bitterkomix.md) (1992–present), 55% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Sketchnoting and Graphic Recording](https://stylogeny.com/styles/sketchnoting.md) (2007–present), 52% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Brazilian Modernismo Graphics (Klaxon and the Semana de 22)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/brazilian-modernismo-graphics.md) (1922–1929), 52% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Puerto Rican Silkscreen Poster (DIVEDCO & ICP)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/puerto-rican-silkscreen-poster.md) (1946–1989), 51% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Turkish Weekly Humour Magazines (Gırgır to Uykusuz)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/turkish-humour-magazines.md) (1972–2025), 49% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_Drinks (founding in 1998 by Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oatly (Pjölk, Brölk, Sölk and Trölk)
- https://fontsinuse.com/uses/37736/oatly-packaging-2015 (Oatly typefaces: John Rounded, Toni Grotesk, FF Magda; lettering by Lars Elfman)
- https://thedieline.com/blog/2014/9/23/oatly (Forsman & Bodenfors packaging system as part advertising space, brand attributes called out on pack)
- https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/design/new-packs/innocent-drinks-revamps-packaging-design-across-portfolio-15-11-2024 (Innocent keeps playful back-of-pack copy and hand-drawn touches)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Conversational Brand-Voice Packaging”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/conversational-brand-packaging/