Fresh From The Field — Pumpd by Marx

This Fresh from the Field features Marx recent work for New Edition and their hero product Pumpd. The relaxed design, friendly drop character and clever copywriting work together delivering positivity and reassurance to a category that might traditionally be regarded as purely functional or even stressful for mums.
If you have new or recent work that you would like to share in Fresh from the Field email nicole@designassembly.org.nz for details.

The Brief:

New Edition is proudly designed and made in New Zealand, creating products especially for babies and caregivers. With no nasty chemicals and a commitment to leaving a newborn-sized footprint on the planet, they bring a fresh and unique voice to baby care.
We needed to create a new identities for both ‘New Edition’ and ‘Pumpd’. Pumpd is New Editions manual breast pump and it’s the hero product in their range, which also includes natural, non-toxic sanitisers. Pumpd required its own distinct branding while still retaining the New Edition promise of safety and trusted knowledge.
Marx were approached to develop the strategy, identity, naming and packaging for Pumpd with a clear mandate to engage and communicate in their predominately direct-to-consumer channel.

The Design Response:

Pumpd is a deceptively simple piece of product design. A huge amount of care and consideration has been distilled into a highly functional tool for mums; keeping in mind, breast-feeding can be a challenging and intimidating time.
Reducing stress and increasing confidence can make a huge difference and studies show that the more relaxed a mum feels while feeding; the better it is for baby. We understood the tone required was one of gentle support and reassurance.

The New Edition Branding uses a “gentle leaf” character (developed in unison by Marx) for the brandmark, for Pumpd we flipped this icon around to become a droplet, slightly less sleepy but still very adorable. The raised eyelashes suggest a contented bub having a feed, and we loved the idea that a smile releases endorphins in the brain; leading back to “what’s good for mum is ultimately great for bub”.

We took inspiration from how emoji characters work alongside text to add a deeper emotional connection. They have the power to communicate feelings in such a simple way, with the bonus of becoming brand marks in their own right. As an element of the Pumpd logo, the “happy drop” works as an apostrophe, or it can be utilised as a separate character with a lot of scope for personality and variation.
Kate from Citizen worked with us develop the tone of voice and personality for the brand, the perfect balance of engaging humour and confident reassurance.

The Pumpd colour palette is a balance of soft, neutral tones and bright poppy colours to subtly differentiate from other products in the New Edition range.
The end result is a product that brings positivity and reassurance to a category that might traditionally be regarded as purely functional or even stressful for mums.