Context
sobedo is a Munich-based sustainable solid soap brand with plastic-free packaging. It offers six handmade soaps, each aimed at a specific use: sea salt (face), activated charcoal (body), coconut oil (shaving), almond oil (hair), calendula (beard) and an all-rounder with stone pine, thyme and sage. The soaps are vegan, palm-oil-free, free of additives and handmade in an Austrian soap workshop.
When sobedo launched in 2018, sustainable body care was moving from niche to mainstream. According to a 2018 industry report, German natural cosmetics had reached roughly €1.3 billion in sales and a 9.2% share of the cosmetics market. The plastic debate after Blue Planet II was pushing solid formats onto drugstore shelves: dm added solid shampoos to its range that year. A premium-priced, handmade, palm-oil-free soap needed a distinct identity to stand out.
Role and Scope
I developed the brand strategy, visual identity and copy to position sobedo for hairdressers and premium, design-led retail. I also designed the six paper packages and the webshop.
Strategy
The brand's mission came from the founder, whose biggest inspiration was nature. For sobedo, cleansing means clean skin and shiny hair, and it also means leaving behind a clean environment, with earth, water and air free of waste, toxins and pollutants. Nature became the central theme of the brand.
Our challenge was to set sobedo visually apart from drugstore brands like Foamie while giving it a nature-inspired look and feel. The brand also had to appeal to women and men, since two of the soaps, for shaving and beards, were aimed at male grooming.
Much soap bar packaging at the time relied on muted earth colours and green "eco" signals, so we chose a different route. Each soap got a bold colour pair and an antique-style animal pattern, from butterflies to dinosaurs, instead of the leaves and earth tones common in the category. The antique animals add an unexpected, playful tone. The sustainability sits in the material: plain cardboard without finishes, and no plastic. The pattern system makes every variant instantly recognisable on the shelf and gives plastic-free packaging a collectible character.
The copy carried the same lightness as the packaging. The claim "Life without plastic is fantastic" borrowed a late-90s pop hook to make plastic-free feel playful. Around it, short, confident lines do the work: "Sauber!" (clean, and German slang for approval), "Tut gut, ist gut", "Mikroplastik? Brauchen wir nicht." Dry humour, firm exclusions and honest limits gave Sobedo a voice of its own.
Outcome and Impact
sobedo launched in 2018 online and went on to be sold in premium retail in Germany and Austria. It was also featured in many magazines including Vogue, Elle, InStyle and Playboy.
Credits
Photography: Max Emrich
Co-copywriting: Julia Schwarzfischer