Nivea Style Uncapped

Client: Nivea
Role: Designer
Agency: The Mechanism, R/GA
Scope: Web, eComm
Year: 2013

In 2013, I was part of the design team behind Style Uncapped, an ecommerce experience for Nivea that allowed consumers to personalize and purchase their own custom lip balm caps. Developed in partnership with fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff, the project created an entirely new revenue stream for the brand while driving significant results, including over one million media impressions, a 40% increase in site visits, and a 53% jump in bulk orders.

StyleUncapped.com was the hub of the entire experience, giving consumers a fun and intuitive design tool to create and purchase their own custom Nivea lip balm cap. Users could choose from over 400 patterns across themes ranging from Floral and Retro to Hollywood and Boho Chic, customize colors, add text, and preview their design in 360 degrees before buying.

The design tool was built around a real-time canvas that gave users precise control over every element of their cap. A full color palette let them fine-tune each pattern to their exact preferences, while layering tools allowed for mixing and matching across themes. Completed designs could be saved, revisited, and shared socially, and top-rated community designs were surfaced in a browsable gallery, turning the experience into both a creative tool and a social showcase.

This screen shows the tool in full creative mode, with a Retro theme applied and a bold, fully patterned cap rendered in real time on the 360-degree preview. The three-step workflow — pick patterns, select symbols, add text — kept the experience intuitive without limiting creative output. Users could scroll through pattern options within a theme, layer symbols on top, and choose from multiple text styles before finalizing their design, with every change reflected instantly on the product preview.