Proof at shelf

Everything here is on sale in a store somewhere.

A render competes with nothing. In the store the pack fights for attention with the box leaning against it, has three seconds to explain itself and only does its job if it leaves in the trolley. These photos are that test: taken by me on my phone, at the shelf, with the light that is actually there and the crooked price tag on top. The Deca you see here is the packaging I design, produced at scale and on sale right now. The other brands are the competition, and they are in the frame on purpose: they are what my work has to beat. Click any photo to enlarge.

1 · Side by side with the competition

None of these photos is a staged set. The pack is where the decision happens, leaning against the brand that is after the same customer and the same price.

Box of the Deca LK toilet on a DIY store shelf, between boxes from Kohler, Icasa and Roca. — Deca LK · DIY store. Kohler on one side, Icasa and Roca on the other: this is how the shopper sees the brand, never on its own.

Box of the Deca Acqua Plus shower kit on the shelf, between a Chuveiro Master pack and a Civitt pack. — Acqua Plus shower kit · DIY store. The black box between two competitors, all three fighting for the same second of attention.

Four shower boxes from different brands lined up on a DIY store shelf, among them the Deca Acqua Plus, with the products hanging above. — Four brands, one shelf · DIY store. The Acqua Plus is second in line, and nothing in the store tells you which is which.

Long DIY store shelf with shower and accessory boxes from several brands, among them the Deca Acqua Plus, and blister packs hanging above. — The whole shelf · DIY store. The Deca block in the middle, surrounded by blister packs and by competitors.

2 · The brand block

When the whole line takes the block, the system shows. The same logic repeated across dozens of boxes is what makes the brand readable from the other side of the aisle.

Shower shelf bay seen head on, with five shelves of repeated Deca Acqua Plus boxes, special price tags and a Rinnai water heater above. — The Acqua Plus wall · DIY store. Five shelves of the same visual system, read from a distance before any text.

Deca Acqua Plus boxes stacked in two rows on the shelf, with the product front repeated dozens of times. — Front behind front · DIY store. The system has to survive being seen in series, without tiring and without blurring.

Promotional pallet with dozens of Deca Acqua Plus boxes standing side by side in the circulation area of a DIY store. — Promotional pallet · DIY store. Off the shelf, with no fixture to help, the box explains itself.

Two-tier promotional island in the middle of a DIY store aisle, with Deca shower boxes stacked and price tags. — Island in the middle of the aisle · DIY store. It is the space the store gives to whatever sells, and it is lost if the pack does not convert.

3 · The volume the store takes in

Sanitary ware packaging means big boxes, stacked on pallets and moved by forklift. It has to survive transport, explain itself standing up and keep working underneath the yellow price tag.

Pallet with three layers of Deca Slim Total Clean toilet boxes, a yellow instalment price tag and Roca and Lyon boxes next to it. — Deca Slim Total Clean · DIY store. R$ 3,392.90 on the tag, Roca and Lyon on the shelf next to it.

Sanitary ware aisle with stacks of Deca Vertis and Deca Level boxes, special price tags at the front and promotional signage on the floor. — Vertis and Level · DIY store. The yellow tag lands on the front of the box, and the pack still has to work.

End cap built with Deca Level boxes stacked to the top, a green band with a bow across the middle and a toilet on display next to it. — Level end cap · DIY store. The most expensive space in the store, built with the box as the set.

DIY store aisle with several pallets of Deca Level boxes lined up, and Sensea and Square displays at the ends. — Level, pallet after pallet · DIY store. Sensea and Square share the same aisle.

Stack of Deca Axis toilet boxes on a wooden pallet, with shelves of toilet seats in the background. — Deca Axis · DIY store. Six boxes stacked, and the store's entire toilet seat stock behind them.

Deca Vertis and Deca Level boxes stacked three levels high, with a special price tag at the front and toilet seat stock in the background. — Vertis and Level side by side · DIY store. Two lines, the same system, the same recognisable family.

Deca Slim Total Clean boxes on the top shelf of a DIY store, strapped and seen from below, with the store aisle in the background. — Slim on the top shelf · DIY store. From below and from far away, the brand and the product name still have to be read.

DIY store aisle with pallets of Deca Vertis boxes, Docol boxes next to them and a pallet truck in front. — From the stockroom to the shelf · DIY store. The box is moved by forklift before anyone ever sees it.

4 · The detail, up close

Up close is where the pack answers the only question that matters in the store: is this really the one I need?

Box of the Deca Link tap standing on the shelf, with the product printed on the front at real size and boxes from the same line stacked behind. — Deca Link tap · DIY store. At eye level, with the product drawn at the size it actually is.

DIY store tap shelf with several boxes from the Deca Link line, under the sign for aisle 88, plumbing materials. — Aisle 88 · DIY store. The Link line taking the whole basin tap shelf.

Deca Link stop valve boxes opened on a wire shelf, with the chrome finish printed on the front. — Deca Link stop valve · DIY store. Small box, technical information and finish, all on the same front.

This is why I photograph the shelf before I design anything. A layout that only exists as a render has never been tested; these have, by people who had no idea whose they were and who had the competition right next to them to compare.

See each project from the inside, from briefing to print-ready artwork →

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Everything here is on sale in a store somewhere.

Photos of the packs in stores

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