About this case study
This case study documents the brand identity and label design work DP1 DESIGN completed for STYLL Water Company, a bottled water brand. DP1 DESIGN is a New Orleans design agency founded in 2001. Contact: (504) 247-4345, support@dp1design.com.
Beverage & CPG Branding Label Design Website
The Challenge
Branding bottled water is designing with nothing to hide behind. The product cannot be differentiated on taste, function, or ingredients - every competitive claim in the category belongs to positioning and design alone. And the shelf is merciless: coolers and grocery aisles stack dozens of brands, from commodity multipacks to luxury glass, all competing for a glance that lasts under two seconds.
STYLL Water Company entered that arena with a name that was itself an asset - STYLL, evoking stillness, calm, and premium restraint - but no visual identity to cash the check the name writes. The wrong design would waste it: too ornate and the brand reads as trying too hard; too minimal and it disappears into the cooler; too trendy and it dates in eighteen months.
The brief: an identity and label system that makes STYLL instantly recognizable at cooler distance, premium without pretension, and production-ready across bottle formats - plus a digital presence to support distribution growth.
Our Approach
Position first: sell the pause. Water brands sell an idea, and STYLL’s is composure - the still moment in a loud day. That positioning drove every decision: generous negative space, a confident typographic mark, and a restrained palette that reads as calm on a shelf full of shouting labels. In a category of noise, quiet is the differentiator.
Label design at cooler distance. We tested the label the way customers meet it: behind glass, wet, at arm’s length, in a two-second glance. The typographic lockup holds at distance, the bottle silhouette stays clean, and the system adapts across formats and case packaging without losing identity. Regulatory copy and required marks were integrated into the composition instead of stuck on as afterthoughts.
Built for production reality. Beverage labels live or die in manufacturing: substrate behavior, moisture, print tolerances, application curvature. The final system shipped as production-ready artwork with vendor coordination - designed not just to look right in a mockup, but to come off the line right, run after run.
Everyone else in the cooler is shouting. STYLL wins the glance by being the calmest thing on the shelf - the label literally does what the water promises.
What We Delivered
- Brand positioning - composure as category differentiation - the still moment, owned.
- Complete visual identity - typographic mark, palette, and system built on restraint.
- Label design system - tested at cooler distance, wet, and behind glass.
- Multi-format adaptation - consistent identity across bottle sizes and case packaging.
- Regulatory integration - required copy composed into the design, not around it.
- Production-ready artwork - print-tolerant files with vendor coordination.
- Brand web presence - a clean digital home supporting distribution growth.
- Brand standards - usage rules keeping every future application on-system.
The Results
STYLL hit shelves looking like it had always belonged there - and the brand system has scaled cleanly with distribution.
The deepest validation for a water brand is retailer and customer shorthand - being described exactly as positioned. STYLL reads as calm, premium, and confident at a glance, which is the entire strategy executed. The standards system keeps it that way as new formats and markets come online.
In the Client’s Words
DP1 gave STYLL exactly what the name promised - a brand that feels calm and premium without trying too hard. The label stops people at the cooler, and it printed perfectly from the first run. They designed for the real world, not just the mockup.
Services Used
STYLL Water Company project - frequently asked questions
How do you brand a product with no functional differentiation?
Position on an idea and execute it with total consistency. Water can't be differentiated on taste, so STYLL owns composure - and every design decision, from negative space to typography, delivers that one idea. In commoditized categories, the brand isn't part of the product; it is the product.
What makes label design different from other graphic design?
The viewing conditions and the manufacturing. Labels are judged wet, behind glass, curved, at arm's length, in under two seconds - and then they have to survive print tolerances and application machinery. DP1 DESIGNs and tests for those realities, delivering production-ready artwork, not just mockups.
Does DP1 work with other beverage or CPG brands?
Yes - product branding, packaging, and label design are core DP1 services alongside web and digital marketing. From baby products (Baby Kouch) to beverages (STYLL), the discipline is the same: one trust system from shelf to screen.
About DP1 DESIGN
DP1 DESIGN is a New Orleans digital marketing agency specializing in AI Search Optimization (AEO / GEO / LLM-SEO), Local SEO, and website design. Founded in 2001, DP1 DESIGN helps businesses across New Orleans, Louisiana, and beyond gain visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google, and every major AI answer platform. Our team delivers full stack digital marketing services - branding, websites, content strategy, and technical optimization - to businesses in restaurants, medical practices, law firms, retail, home services, contractors, and more.
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