Skincare range designed in Cambridge, made in Switzerland

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Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) designed the new VillaPhyta Montreux skincare range for Arnebia. The products include daily creams, serums and elixirs to moisturize, even skin tone and provide sun protection.


“Our brief was to modernise the VillaPhyta Masterbrand whilst defining the positioning and visual identity for the Montreux sub-brand. Naturally we’re delighted with the beautiful packaging results and we’re looking forward to learning more about the launch success stories and commercial outcomes.”

Chris Houghton, Partner, Head of FMCG (FastMoving Consumer Goods).

VillaPhyta Montreux is steeped in provenance and natural ingredients. It’s blended and manufactured on the outskirts of Montreux in Switzerland. Ingredients include Swiss Glacial Water and local plant-based extracts from Edelweiss, Saponaria and Tamarindus Indica. Airless packaging and ampoule droppers enable precision dosing for the consumer, which give an implicit accuracy association that’s fitting for a Swiss-made product.

The design team took inspiration from this Swiss provenance and fact that the Montreux is home to the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival, which has hosted big names over its 54 years, from Nina Simone to John Lee Hooker and BB King. The skincare collection’s product names even have a musical theme, including Solo, Cadence and Swing.

“We felt a degree of expressive flair was crucial for the visual language,” explains CDP designer Ben Kübler, who led the project. “We generated over a dozen early visual directions with varying degrees of personality. Working collaboratively, we came up with a free brushstroke motif, representing the Montreux jazz theme, contrasted against a simple white Swiss-inspired canvas with precise typography.

Cambridge Design Partnership work on body skincare product innovation
Cambridge Design Partnership work on body skincare product innovation

Colleague Dill Hill contributed to the project, bringing more than 25 years of experience in graphic design and illustration to the table.
“Dill developed and illustrated the brushstroke motif, creating the associated brand guidelines,” added Ben Kübler.

The team at Arnebia is delighted with the end result: “Ben and the team provided a wealth of creative ideas for us and were pivotal in formulating the most appropriate design direction for our brand and market,” says Alex Rabinovich, Lead Specialist, Arnebia representative.

This is the fourth project collaboration between CDP and Arnebia. “We find that the CDP team is always responsive, creatively collaborative and strategically insightful. Working with them helps guide the end-to-end design process and I always look forward to our update meetings,” concluded Alex.

Cambridge Design Partnership Body Skincare client
CDP Body Skincare project
Cambridge Design Partnership Body Skincare Innovation
Cambridge Design Partnership Body Skincare Best Solution

For further information and media enquiries, please contact: media@cambridge-design.com or call 01223 264428

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Chris Houghton

Partner