Komoni: Well wishes for good health

Client: Komoni
Services: Branding, packaging, logo design

Komoni is a line of bath, body, and home fragrance products sold online and at co-ops and gift shops throughout the Midwest. Komoni’s founder, Vangie Stacy, was raised in the Philippines, and the brand is deeply informed by Vangie’s upbringing in Manila, time spent on her grandmother’s farm in Bicol, and her experience working in the healing arts as a massage therapist in Minnesota.

When Vangie approached us, she had been operating the brand under its original name – Roots Essential - for a few years, with packaging she had designed and printed herself. Although customers loved the product, the packaging was holding the brand back and literally preventing Vangie from opening new doors with retail partners.

When a trademark conflict was discovered, we advised Vangie to change the brand name, and she came up with a lovely one. Komoni (pronounced comma-knee) references the English words community and commons and the Filipino concept of bayanihan: a spirit of communal unity, generosity and cooperation.

We worked with Vangie to develop a brand identity that evokes warmth, humanity, and optimism: the physical embodiment of the bayanihan spirit. Anchored by a cheerful little figure and a bright but earthy color palette, the branding system was designed to be ultra simple to execute because the Komoni team is tiny (three people! all family!) and the product assortment is large.

In the first few quarters since the rebrand launched, Komoni’s sales have doubled.