Sean Morse
Brand Development & Packaging Design
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Leisure Project

Leisure Project: Revolutionizing Creator Hydration

Packaging Design

Founded by former college athletes Alex and Steve Michaelsen, Leisure Project is disrupting the functional beverage industry with its innovative approach to hydration for modern creators. Unlike traditional sports drinks, Leisure combines adaptogens, minerals, and nootropics to enhance mental performance and creative focus.

The brand's distinctive identity features a portal-inspired design that reveals a vibrant oasis of illustrations, seamlessly blending flavor, function, and fantasy. Each flavor is represented by unique characters that embody the brand's lifestyle aspirations and serve as the foundation for their successful NFT collection.

Since its launch, Leisure Project has achieved remarkable growth in both digital and retail spaces. The brand's Hydration Club NFT initiative built an engaged community of early adopters, while garnering recognition from industry leaders including The Dieline, ThingTesting, and BevNet.

Leisure's retail success has been equally impressive, securing prime placement in premium California retailers like Erewhon, Bristol Farms, and Gelsons. The brand reached a $1M run rate in its first year and secured a strategic partnership with Los Angeles Distributing, Southern California's largest DSD beverage distributor.

Leisure Project

A New Era Of Holistic Refreshment

Step into an oasis of Holistic Refreshment—a lush space where hydration goes beyond revitalizing the body to uplift the mind and awaken creativity. Crafted with hydrating nutrients alongside adaptogens and nootropics to help you take care of both your mind and body. Leisure reveals a new path for future pursuits and past passions. So dive in, have a sip, and take up what inspires you. Whatever drives that inner spark, embrace it and let it run free. 

  • Alex & Steve Michaelsen, two brothers and former college athletes noticed a gap within the overall hydration category. With most hydration brands focusing on the athletic space, they wanted to launch a brand that would go beyond this and serve the modern-day creators. Utilizing adaptogens, minerals & nootropics Leisure’s unique hydrating blend would aim to provide a sense of holistic refreshment that would inspire creators to be at their mental best.

  • From the ground up the brand was developed to provoke curiosity & exude a calming sensation. The logotype and principal typography promote a relaxing sensation without resorting to “blanding”. Through the utilization of a portal, a refreshingly lush oasis of illustrations is revealed that fuses flavor, function, & fantasy. The space invites the discovery of a new refreshing era. The characters were developed to help imbue the brand with the lifestyle component as well as act as personifications of each flavor. Furthermore, knowing the brand was seeking to create a series of NFTs, the hero characters would act as a launch pad for the development of the Web3 assets.

  • Upon launch, Leisure was met with tremendous success. The NFTs and associated Hydration Club provided the brand with an immediate community of interested consumers. They also gained media attention from websites like the Dieline, ThingTesting, BevNet, CPGD, and more. Leisure quickly expanded beyond D2C and is in the top five beverages, flying off shelves in Erewhon, Bristol Farms, Gelsons, and dozens of top retail chains throughout California. At the close of year 1 in business, the brand is on a $1M run rate and signed the largest DSD beverage house in SoCal, Los Angeles Distributing, with an equity investment to truly partner up and scale the brand.

 

Client: Leisure Project
Agency: Freelance
Services: Strategy, Brand Identity, Packaging Design