The Nature of Things

Benoit Nicol is a perfume and aromatherapy expert with 20 years experience working in New York with some of the best producers of natural oils in the world. He identified a gap in the market for organic and ethically produced aromatherapy products.

The Nature of Things takes its name from the 2,000 year old book ‘De Rerum Natura’ – On the Nature of Things, by Roman poet Lucretius. The book explores epicurean philosophy and the belief that everything in nature can be explained by natural laws, and that happiness can be found by living a simple life, surrounded with friends and in harmony with nature.

We worked with Benoit to create a visual and verbal identity which represents this philosophy. For the brandmark and accompanying elements, we used symbols associated with alchemy and apothecary along with a copper foil to reference the pot stills used during the distillation process.

We then commissioned illustrator Tom Abbiss Smith to develop a suite of botanical illustrations and vibrant patterns for use across the various touchpoints. These illustrations informed the photoshoot we art-directed with photographer Brendan Ryan and stylist Johan Van Der Merwe.

We feel the combination of scientific details and vibrant botanical illustrations come together to create a fresh, memorable, and essentially, unique lifestyle brand.