MAGIK (Student Project)

Designer: Nathaniel H Killam
Project Type: Student Project
School: University of Wisconsin – Stout
Course: Graphic Design II
Tutor: Nagesh Shinde
Location: Menomonie, WI
Packaging Contents: Shaving Powder

Tasked with finding a product in or around $5 and rebranding and repackaging the product. I had never heard of Magic Shaving Powder until I was looking around a Wal-Mart for possible products. I looked at many other items but this one stood out most. I felt it was such an interesting product and it stood off the shelf in a negative way. It’s design felt as if it were from the 1970’s. I wanted to modernize the brand and market it towards a younger generation of consumers.

What’s Unique?
When Magic Shaving Powder first came around in 1901 it’s intended use was for African-American males. African-American males have a tendency to have more coarse hair with a higher chance of ingrown hairs. Making shaving a dangerous task that often lead to pitting of the skin and lots of razor burn. To fight this, Magic Shaving Powder was created. You mix equal parts powder and water until you have a batter like consistency and then apply to face (or wherever you want to remove hair) and wait about seven minutes. Then using a cloth or credit card, you wipe the hair away. no blades, no blood. Depilatories aren’t uncommon for women to shave their legs with, and I thought that this product could be better marketed towards more people if it didn’t look like a product that your grandfather used.

I gave the brand a new logo with a playful ligature that most consumers overlook until closer inspection. After testing the product and being very impressed with it’s results I felt that the logo conveyed the magical quality of the product. I made four versions of the product to correlate to their four versions currently in the market, regular strength, extra strength, skin conditioning, and fragrant. I wanted to keep the identifying colors similar to what they are now so that a long time user of the product could pick it up and quickly transition to the new design.