7UP has unveiled a new visual identity, packaging, and positioning in its first major design overhaul in seven years. The redesign is the product of 7UP’s new ‘UPliftment’ brand strategy, which promises to “offer light relief from the mundanities of daily life”, according to parent company PepsiCo.

The 7UP green has been carried through to the new identity, with “added zesty citrus tones”. The new look, which will be used for both 7UP and 7UP Zero Sugar, builds on the flat design route the brand had already been going down, but here the ‘7’ has been given a thick extrusion that neatly ties in with the brand name and positioning.

Mauro Porcini, SVP and chief design officer at PepsiCo, said that the “bright and confident visual identity system” is designed to resonate internationally. “The new 7UP features the brand’s signature punchy green, but with added citrus hues and distinct high-contrast lines that portray a feeling of upward energy.”

The new design will be rolled out in multiple markets around the world in March, when it will be joined by a launch campaign that leans into “the universal language of comedy”.

It follows a series of popular drinks brands plumping for stripped-back packaging, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Lilt, which abandoned the illustrated pineapple on its packaging last year – foreshadowing the recent announcement that Coca-Cola-owned Lilt will soon be rebranded as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit.

Some of these minimalist redesigns have been warmly received, but plenty of customers have mourned the loss of detail, as seen with San Pellegrino’s decision to ditch the foil lids on its cans.

design.pepsico.com