From mistletoe ready lippy, to morning after miracle serums, the calendar is packed with big brand products to indulge beauty obsessives throughout the festive season. With skincare staples from La Mer and La Prairie, along with makeup and fragrance favourites from the likes of Charlotte Tilbury, Fenty Beauty, and La Perla found behind each door. Our task was to create a standout design that would hold these delights and rival the long-established beauty calendars in this ever competitive and rapidly growing market.

Harvey Nichols is well known for being at the cutting-edge of fashion and beauty, so to capture the spirit of the brand, we decided that a fresh and contemporary approach was in order. Using an abstract take on the traditional ‘store front’ design of many other well-known calendars, we deconstructed the iconic CW Stephens architecture of Harvey Nichols flagship Knightsbridge store – its strong horizontal and vertical lines, and the angular corner position – to create a series of dynamic graphic shapes that wrap around the packaging in varying scale.

Bright pops of colour against a monochrome background helped to create bold standout in the busy retail environment. While the strong shapes and colour combinations were also used to great effect across social media and other online platforms, to tease and announce the product launch. The calendar itself was finished using rich and tactile uncoated stock, contrasted with flashes of sleek iridescent foil blocking, creating a real sense of modern luxury, and upholding the quality that customers have come to expect from Harvey Nichols products.

Through the copy revealed on the inside of the calendar, we subtly injected the brand’s cheeky and irreverent personality, seamlessly integrating with wider campaigns and communications. And introduced the ‘25 beauty-full days’ strapline that we hope will become synonymous with the Harvey Nichols beauty advent in the years to come.

The calendar’s launch received a phenomenal PR response from the retail and beauty worlds and proved just as popular with the public too – swiftly becoming a sell-out success. Firmly placing Harvey Nichols as a main player in the beauty advent market, and already making what’s to come in 2023 one of the most hotly anticipated.