M&S puts core brand at center of packaging redesign

The system addresses increasingly crowded packaging that had combined sub-brands, range names, claims and multiple visual hierarchies.

Marks & Spencer Fashion, Home & Beauty has rolled out a packaging system developed by Mother Design across thousands of Home and Lingerie products, putting the M&S brand at the centre of one of its most frequently experienced customer touchpoints.

Mother Design has simplified the approach to align packaging more closely with the style and confidence expressed across M&S Fashion, Home & Beauty.

Mother Design brings clarity to M&S packaging

The rollout covers thousands of SKUs across Home and Lingerie and is built around three objectives: making the packaging feel consistent with the M&S brand, strengthening the core brand across product ranges and making products easier to navigate in stores.

Mother Design worked with M&S to establish a brand architecture in which each sub-brand and range has a clearer role while giving greater prominence to the M&S name.

The visual system uses a restrained approach, focusing on clarity, product presentation and information hierarchy rather than adding decorative elements. In Home, a structured front- and back-of-pack hierarchy, benefits grid and MS London Geo numerals help shoppers identify product features, contents and sizing.

M&S introduces colour-coded packaging navigation

M&S black and white form the core palette in Home, with colour-coded bedding size stickers providing an additional navigation tool. Lingerie uses warm whites and charcoal tones alongside the same colour-coded sizing system.

Across both categories, the MS London typeface establishes a consistent hierarchy. The colour system also brings different sizes into a single range rather than separating larger cup sizes into a standalone branded range, using colour rather than descriptive language as the primary organising principle.

Photography, language and materials extend the design approach. Home imagery uses tightly cropped compositions to highlight craftsmanship, materials and details, while Lingerie photography combines natural light with relaxed styling.

New packaging system rolls out across thousands of SKUs

The packaging also introduces changes to materials and formats. Selected products have moved from plastic bags into box formats, while duvet packaging has shifted to reusable natural cotton bags. Blind embossing, spot varnishes and higher-quality paper stocks add tactile elements, while bespoke Lingerie structures were developed with M&S production teams in line with the retailer's Plan A commitments.

Kyla Lyford, Head of Category Marketing, M&S: "With so many products across our ranges, packaging has to do far more than protect what's inside. It needs to help customers find what they're looking for quickly and confidently, while creating a consistent experience across every touchpoint. Mother Design has helped us simplify how our ranges are organised, make them easier to shop and create a packaging system that feels unmistakably M&S."

Packaging puts M&S brand at centre of retail experience

The packaging is designed to create a more consistent retail environment by reducing visual complexity and giving greater prominence to the products, their quality and craftsmanship.

Kathryn Jubrail, Partner, Mother Design: "Good packaging design doesn't always need to shout. For M&S, our job wasn't to add expression for its own sake, but to understand exactly what the packaging needed to do and have the confidence to do only that. By simplifying the architecture and using craft, materiality and information hierarchy with greater purpose, we've created a system that works harder by saying less. The role of the packaging wasn't to create confidence for M&S, but to reveal the confidence that was already there."

www.motherdesign.com

www.marksandspencer.com

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