Wichita is full of companies that fly under the radar locally, but have incredible national or even international presence. Zeep (pronounced Zayp) is one of them, I can only say it’s a shame that more of the local community doesn’t know about them. The owner, Ashley, has built a production facility here and ships her products all over the world while also maintaining a welcoming, local storefront.

When she got in touch with me, she was needing to up her visual presence to start reaching a larger wholesale market. She’d just completed a rebrand with new apothecary-style design and was ready to launch the new Zeep to the world. It’s pure music to my ears when I hear a “local” vendor wanting to take their image to a national level. I love it when “good enough” no longer is. So, after a good bit of pre-production, we spent a day together photographing her entire range of SKUs – 150 products across 6 lines.

We created a cohesive look across her six product lines that could be easily shown together, but visually differentiated at a glance. In the simplest ways possible, we used the backgrounds to lend a narrative to the product’s use without detracting from the punch of the item’s vibrant colors. For her scrubs, soaps, waxes, whips, and meringues – each scent with its own unique color signature – we kept the background purely monochromatic with a white-on-white theme that gives a nod to a spa or bath experience.

In contrast, for her body sprays that are necessarily colorless, we gave the background a splash of soft color to help offset the product while also giving a visual cue to a gentle scent. Whether its with water droplets on the bath products or flowers with a body spray, I like to stimulate non-visual senses in my product work.

As I’m writing about this, my house is filled with the scent of her 221B Baker St wax melt, and it’s making this first cold day of the season feel like a brisk London morning with adventure just around the corner.