Conceived in a rural village of Fakfak, West Papua, Henggi is a handmade skincare brand; the first of its kind to use the village specialty product: Nutmeg. Inspired by the owner's passion and vision for the brand, and as a fellow native, my team and I was propelled to support the business pro bono by creating naming and brand identity that would enables the brand’s story to soar even further into a wider market.
Armed with the knowledge earned from a small medium business workshop and a passion for creating a product that could embody the specialty of her birth village, the owner of Henggi created a soap and balm products from nutmeg. This particular nutmeg species called Papua Nutmeg, comparing to its other counterparts, contains higher fat content with buttery texture, bigger fruits, a longer sharper form of fruit, and contains a higher chemical content of trimistrin which is valuable for the production of cosmetics, soap, lotion and lubricants.
The initial product has no brand name, only the mark of “Nutmeg Product from Fakfak”, sold mainly on traditional market and mouth to mouth. Henggi means Nutmeg in the native language of Fakfak. A simple word that represent the core value of the brand, staying true to its humble beginning as a homemade product made by a passionate indigenous artisan with a grand vision.
The chosen logo takes inspiration from the geometric triangular shapes as well as simplification of the nutmeg seed’s shape, combining them together into a single mark. The shapes of the logo can stand alone individually, but produce a more in-depth symbol when placed together as one mark, much like the nutmeg itself whose parts are all useful in its own right, but are a part of a single unit. It is also a reflection of the village’s philosophy that promotes unity and brotherhood within its culturally rich community.
Additional graphic elements include raster image of nutmeg fruits, created specifically for the brand, with the help of pictures of real nutmeg taken by the owner, and available in all the brand’s main and secondary colors. The main factors considered for the packaging are the durability, availability and sourcing, and transportability, owing to the fact that the production is happening on the owner’s house in the village that is remotely located. The ease of assembly is the next important point as the owner has very few employees, who need to be taught how to assemble the packaging.
Next points are eco-friendliness since most soap packaging are single use. The wrapping method are created so that less glue can be use if none at all. Instead, after it is folded, the wrapping can be simply held together by the craft label, making the assembly and dismantling process faster and effortless. For the initial version, we created 3 different patterns from the logo geometrical elements, and 3 different color versions from a single pattern.
The village of Fakfak has a saying stating lighting a pot with three rocks, referring to the cultural unity of the various tribes residing in the small village. Taking inspiration from this, other than representing the nutmeg, the client wants the brand visual to also represent the ideology, that is, an assembly of different parts into one. While the current product consisted only of soap bar, the owner envisioned other nutmeg based skincare and wellness items. Henggi is without a doubt a gem in the making, a reminder that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and my team and I are proud to be given the opportunity to join in the journey.
