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Carlita Bryant

MFA in Graphic Design - 3 Yr Path — Graduate Graphic Design
Course:
Packaging Design 3
Faculty:
Paula Hansanugrum
Term:
2025 Fall
Collaborators:
Isabella Svensson

Cracked

Cracked is an indie nail polish brand with a voice that is bold, irreverent, and entirely unbothered by convention. That tone became the conceptual entry point. This identity and packaging rebrand translates the brand's existing personality into a cohesive design system, where intentional typographic breaks, distorted physical forms, and raw material honesty work together as a unified visual language. Where the beauty industry defaults to polish and uniformity, Cracked resists. Structural irregularities are treated as features, not flaws, and natural materials extend that philosophy from the product formulas into the packaging itself. The system spans Cracked's hero polishes and top and base coats, and introduces three new product lines: nail polish remover, nail serum, and hand moisturizer. Each extension was designed to feel native to the brand world while expanding its presence into the broader space of intentional, ingredient-aware beauty.

Process:

The process began with an extensive research phase spanning brand audits, consumer insights, competitive analysis, and industry trend forecasting across the personal care and beauty landscape. Those findings directly informed the conceptual strategy, which led into a rigorous identity development phase with an exhaustive range of logo explorations before arriving at the final wordmark with its signature interrupted letterforms. Physical prototyping went through multiple rounds of iteration, from hand sketches to digital form studies, before landing on the final products. Each product in the suite was individually modeled and rendered in SolidWorks, bringing the full physical form of the packaging to life across the packaging system.

Learning Outcomes:

This project deepened my technical and collaborative skills, equally. Navigating SolidWorks modeling and photo rendering in Keynote pushed the work into new territory, as well as integrating an AI-assisted photo enhancement workflow paired with hands-on retouching. Working alongside Isabella Svensson (BFA Graphic Design) introduced a new dimension of leadership, requiring clear communication, shared decision-making, and the ability to align two different perspectives and skill sets toward a single cohesive vision. Overall, this project marked significant growth, and helped clarify how I see myself moving forward as both a creative leader and a collaborative team member.

Project Website:
https://carlitabryant.com/cracked
Tags:
3D Design,
Branding,
Packaging
Leaning into the idea of imperfection as a focal point, each packaging form embraces distortions that break away from traditional beauty packaging.
Using Cracked's signature "Heroes Bundle" in the system let us view the nail polish bottles as a system, giving them a different look from the top and base coats.
The brand currently uses natural, vegan ingredients to create its well-received polish formulas. A hand moisturizer that used the same logic was added to the packaging system to extend the thinking beyond nail polish and envision growth beyond what already exists.
The addition of nail serums emphasized the importance of caring for oneself while also caring for the planet.
To introduce the brand to new audiences, I designed out-of-home posters to bring Cracked to life outside of the screen.
Envisioning the future of Cracked meant placing it in environments it's never seen before. This led to the design of a tradeshow booth meant to be experienced at BeautyCon.
Cracked currently faces the challenge of only living online, so giving it physical presence in a cosmetic retail environment is essential to its growth.
With the invention of new nail polish refill station technology, part of the strategic development was to embrace it as it grows. Nail polish lovers now have a more sustainable option when it comes to running out of polish, allowing Cracked to be a pioneer in the polish industry.
Refill station user flow screens