GoodBasics
Good-natured everyday basics.
Overview
Most household cleaners rely on harsh chemicals that are linked to health problems and pollution, and stop working once they dry. GoodBasics set out to change that with probiotic cleaning: no soap and no harsh chemicals, just good bacteria put to work, outcompeting the bad and promising up to 72 hours of active cleaning.
The ask was a brand to take it into the mass market, with a product line for two places, on the go and at home. The objective was to make sustainable everyday products attractive and affordable, and to prove that cleaning kinder doesn't mean cleaning worse.
I was there from the first word, naming the brand, then building the identity, the products and everything that sells them. The range launched at Yuppiechef and went on to be stocked by SPAR, Wellness Warehouse and Earthly.
The name
It started with the name. I generated a long list and checked every candidate against the web addresses that were actually available, because a mass-market brand needs a name people can find. GoodBasics was the clear standout.
The name carries the idea in two halves: good-natured, everyday basics. The Good is the intention, everything done as sustainably as possible. The Basics is the promise, products that genuinely work. You can't have one without the other, and that became the brand core: ethical essentials.
Identity
The flower mark keeps it simple. Its shape stands for good intentions and natural ingredients, and its symmetry speaks to how well the products work.
The type follows the same split. Recoleta, a warm serif, speaks for the Good; Gordita, a clean geometric sans, does the work of the Basics. A fresh primary green, soft light greens and a floral pattern built from the mark complete the kit.
Brand guidelines
Everything is documented in a full set of guidelines: who the brand is and how it sounds, the logo, type and colour, three families of icons, pattern, packaging and photography, so anyone producing for GoodBasics gets it right first time.
Products and packaging
The products were developed alongside the brand, across multiple lines: On-the-Go, SneakerCare and Laundry, Bathroom, Surfaces, Kitchen and Upholstery. I also laid out the strategy for the categories still to come.
Every label follows one system. Each product gets its own colour, and three families of icons do the explaining: category icons say where a product belongs, USP icons turn the formula's benefits, from probiotic and hypoallergenic to pet friendly and biodegradable, into something a shopper reads in a second, and instructional icons show how to use it.
The range
Sales deck
Before a product reaches a shelf, it has to win over a buyer, and probiotic cleaning was new to most of them. The sales deck makes the science simple, in order: the problem with chemical cleaners, nature's alternative, how good bacteria outcompete the bad, and the benefits that follow.
The same system carries through the trade presenter, the advertising and the collateral, so the brand reads the same in a buyer's meeting as it does in the aisle.
Website
I designed the GoodBasics online store. It's built around how people actually clean, so shoppers browse by room: laundry, kitchen, bathroom, upholstery and surfaces.
Probiotic cleaning still needs explaining, so the store does it in short beats: the benefits up front, the science in Clean Thinking and the GoodScience series, and answers to the questions people ask before they switch. What's Good Rewards gives them a reason to come back, and the layout flexes for seasonal campaigns without leaving the brand system.
