Reimagining an Iconic Brand for the Holiday Season
How Ugly Sweaters Turned Everyday Lip Care into a Holiday Collectible
This winter, ChapStick traded its signature simplicity for something a little warmer. In partnership with Front Row’s Brand Strategy & Design team, the heritage lip-care brand launched a limited-edition Ugly Sweater Collection at Target, turning a household staple into a collectible moment of holiday joy.
The creative brief was to bring seasonal excitement to a brand known for everyday utility without losing its instantly recognizable identity. The solution? A design system that stitched nostalgia, playfulness, and brand consistency into every pack.
Designing “Cozy Chaos”
Front Row led the end-to-end creative concept, from structural packaging design to final production. Inspired by the imperfect charm of homemade sweaters, the team developed:
- Proposal for “Ugly Sweater” concept plus added consumer testing to ensure it would be successful and resonate.
- A custom cross-stitch font, tailored exclusively for ChapStick’s holiday collection.
- Hand-illustrated icons representing each festive flavor, from sugar cookie to candy cane.
- Sweater-shaped packaging that turned every SKU into a mini ornament, inviting impulse buys and social sharing.
- Naming each Holiday pack and flavor with a touch of coziness and humor.
Every color, stitch, and texture was crafted to evoke warmth and whimsy, capturing that nostalgic coziness of the holidays while amplifying shelf presence.
Fresh out the oven. And onto your lips.
From Concept to Commerce
The project exemplifies how design and retail strategy converge under Front Row’s Connected Commerce philosophy. By blending creative storytelling with deep retail expertise, Front Row helped ChapStick transform seasonal packaging into a powerful retail moment, one that drives both emotional connection and conversion.
Front Row’s in-house production team collaborated closely with ChapStick and Target to ensure every element, from dielines to finishes, translated beautifully in-store. The result is a cohesive retail experience that delivered delight at first sight and lasting brand impression at checkout.
“With this collection, we wanted to spark a little holiday joy for an iconic brand through something universally familiar; the ugly sweater. By reimagining the pack itself as a playful sweater shape, we created the perfect canvas to ‘stitch’ each flavor into the design. Surprising shoppers and inviting them to pick one up just for the fun of it.”
Where Brand Meets Delight
The ChapStick “Ugly Sweater” collection stands as a testament to how modern brands can use creativity as a growth engine, transforming a utilitarian product into a joyful expression of brand storytelling.
This holiday, cozy chaos found a new home in the lip aisle, and it was designed by Front Row. For legacy brands looking to revamp their retail presence without losing brand equity, ChapStick’s holiday transformation proves that creativity and commerce can coexist beautifully.
Catch the new designed products available exclusively at Target!
