Reimagined the Band-Aid brand’s future positioning through consumer-driven innovation work, defining a renewed brand purpose, values, and visual language designed to strengthen emotional connection with younger generations while reinforcing relevance with existing consumers.
BAND-AID
Brand Strategy & Innovation
Role: Senior Designer
Scope: Brand Strategy, Consumer Research, Brand Purpose Development, Visual & Verbal Language, Concept Activation
Focus: Future brand positioning, consumer connection, visual identity development
Team: Brand Strategist, Solutions Designer, Sr Designer, Sr Design Manager
Design Direction: Cassandra Cogbill, Sr Design Manager
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Band-Aid is one of the most recognizable brands in wound care, but maintaining cultural relevance with younger generations required a deeper understanding of how consumers emotionally connect with wound care today. The objective of this project was to future-proof the brand by identifying opportunities to strengthen Band-Aid’s relationship with current consumers while also inspiring a new generation to connect with the brand.
Our team set out to explore how consumers think about wound care beyond functional protection—examining the emotional, cultural, and behavioral triggers that influence their choices. Through extensive research, interviews, and collaborative workshops, we aimed to uncover new brand insights and translate them into a renewed brand purpose, updated consumer target, and a visual and verbal language that could guide future brand expression across platforms.
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Lead and participated in multi-round consumer research sessions with both Band-Aid and non-Band-Aid users to uncover emotional and behavioral insights around wound care
Conducted visual and semiotic exploration to identify themes and symbols that resonate with consumers’ emotional needs
Created sacrificial concepts with rapid prototyping to aid in our consumer research interviews. As well as sketched user journeys of all interview participants to have visual representation of all the data we collected.
Synthesized research findings into four core brand values and helped shape the renewed brand purpose and consumer target
Developed a visual and verbal brand language system designed to translate the new brand positioning into cohesive design expression
Designed mock activations demonstrating how the brand could evolve across product, packaging, and communication touchpoints
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Defined a renewed brand purpose rooted in deeper emotional connections to healing and care
Identified four foundational brand values to guide future storytelling and brand behavior
Established an updated consumer target informed by research and evolving cultural expectations
Developed a scalable visual and verbal language to support future brand expression
Created conceptual activations demonstrating opportunities for the brand across digital, retail, and experiential touchpoints
Delivered a strategic framework to guide future brand innovation and strengthen relevance with emerging consumer generations
To uncover meaningful insights, we conducted multiple rounds of in-depth interviews with both loyal Band-Aid users and consumers who were not currently purchasing the brand. Through a process of “extreme listening,” we explored how people experience wound care in everyday life—what they trust, what they avoid, and how emotional associations influence their behavior.
These conversations allowed us to identify patterns in how consumers connect with care, healing, protection, and reassurance.
Throughout the process we used rapid visual exploration as a way to test ideas and spark discussion. Concept sketches, moodboards, and early brand language explorations were shared directly with consumers in research sessions, allowing us to refine our thinking through real feedback.
This iterative approach ensured that our design decisions were grounded in authentic consumer perspectives.
development of four core brand values and a renewed brand purpose for Band-Aid. These foundations helped clarify the brand’s role not just as a product, but as a trusted partner in moments of care and healing.
We also defined an updated consumer target and hierarchy of emotional needs to guide future brand decisions.
Building from the strategic insights, I developed a visual and verbal design language that could translate the brand’s renewed purpose into tangible expression. This system explored color, typography, graphic elements, and messaging frameworks that reflect Band-Aid’s heritage while opening the door for modern interpretation.
The goal was to create a flexible toolkit that could guide the brand across packaging, digital experiences, and marketing communication.
To illustrate how the strategy could evolve into real-world execution, we developed a wide range of conceptual brand activations. These explorations demonstrated how Band-Aid could connect with consumers through modern storytelling, new product experiences, and expanded brand expression across multiple platforms.
Together, these concepts provided a vision for how the brand could continue to grow its relevance with future generations.
