Aeste
Creating a premium home fragrance brand inspired by the restorative power of scent and the escapism of an English country garden.
Aeste is a home fragrance and aromatherapy brand designed to transform everyday spaces into moments of calm. Inspired by the restorative qualities of scent and the atmosphere of an English country garden, the identity brings together refined typography, fluid graphic forms and considered art direction to create a contemporary expression of tranquillity.
At the heart of the brand is the idea that fragrance can transport you elsewhere, offering a moment of escape from the pace of modern life.
Challenge: The home fragrance category spans functional wellness products and premium lifestyle brands, creating an opportunity for Aeste to establish a distinctive identity that feels both sophisticated and emotionally engaging. The challenge was to communicate the transformative experience of scent while creating a cohesive brand world that could extend across packaging, products and campaign communications.
Insight: Fragrance has the ability to transform how a space feels, evoking memories, moods and a sense of being somewhere else. This emotional connection became the foundation of the brand, positioning scent not simply as a product, but as a means of escape.
Strategy: Aeste was built around the idea of scent as a journey into another space. Inspired by the fluid movement of incense smoke, the concept of scent trails became the foundation of the identity, a visual expression of fragrance moving through space.
This idea informed a cohesive design system that balances fluid graphic forms with refined typography, a calming colour palette and immersive imagery. Together, these elements create a premium identity that communicates tranquillity while remaining distinctive across every touchpoint.
Year
2025
Conceptual
Design
Visual Identity
Branding
Packaging Design
Illustration
Art Direction
Copy writing
Motion
Brand identity
The identity translates the intangible nature of fragrance into a recognisable visual language. Flowing scent trails, inspired by the movement of incense smoke, become a unifying graphic device across the logo, packaging and campaign communications, expressing the movement of scent and reinforcing the brand's sense of escapism.
Tone of voice
The brand voice of Aeste establishes a stillness that draws people into the brand experience, and the design visually reinforces this calm. To articulate this modern yet elegant tone without sacrificing its premium feel, the typography combines a clean sans-serif (Field) with a contemporary serif (Montserrat).
Colour palette
The palette moves from deep indigo through soft lavender to near-white, reflecting a transition from intensity towards calm. These tonal shifts create depth and atmosphere while allowing the identity to move between richer, more immersive expressions and lighter, more minimal applications.
Advertising
Aeste's design harmoniously blends art and graphic elements to celebrate its aromas. Paintings, chosen to spotlight core scents and capture the essence of tranquil, otherworldly escapism, invite customers into serene environments. Supporting these are graphic scent trails, inspired by the fluid movement of incense smoke. These trails visually suggest scent and aroma, anchoring the brand's core message: ‘the scent to escapism.’ These graphic scent trails are integrated throughout the branding, appearing as solid shapes, linear strokes, or layered textures on photographs and solid brand colours.
Packaging
Aeste's packaging—from bottles to candles and exterior boxes visually communicates the aroma held within. Delicate linear scent trails are used to subtly define the shapes of bottles and candles, fostering a cohesive brand identity and resulting in an airy, aesthetically pleasing presence ideal for home display. For exterior packaging (boxes), the scent trails transform into solid frames that highlight the core scents. This minimalist approach provides negative space for the logo and information, preserving the brand's premium feel.
Brand identity
Refined typography and restrained layouts bring balance to the fluid graphic forms, combining contemporary simplicity with a more expressive, editorial quality. The result is a flexible identity that feels considered and premium without losing its sense of atmosphere.
