Walker’s Shortbread rebrand

Design: D8
Location: Netherlands
Project Type: Produced
Client: Walker’s Shortbread
Head of Marketing at Walker's Shortbread: Sarah Macaulay
Product Launch Location: Netherlands
Packaging Contents: Shortbread
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Packaging Substrate: Cardboard & Cello
Decoration: Four colour process with two spot colours (one metallic ink), emboss, deboss, gloss varnish, soft touch varnish

Walker’s Shortbread was founded in 1898 by Joseph Walker. Still family-owned and still baked using Joseph’s original recipe, their famous shortbread is now sold in over 100 countries.

Our new brand positioning - Scotland at its finest – provided the platform for a packaging overhaul to reflect modern consumer and category trends while retaining the brand’s heritage and reputation. Flexibility was key, too, to enable success across diverse markets ranging from local grocery stores to global duty free and gifting outlets.

We redrew the logotype from an original hand painted sign found in family archives and modernised the iconic Walker’s tartan, now held in a signature ribbon and alongside a “W” edging device to further aid shelf standout.

Introducing an apostrophe in the brand name further recognises founder Joseph – and the wider family by extension – and is locked up on pack with the Royal Warrant, awarded to Walker’s in recognition of the superior quality of its shortbread.

To fully communicate the depth of the Walker’s story on pack and in their wider communications we created a range of supporting brand assets including a redrawn version of Joseph’s signature, providing ownership and a seal of quality, and updated historical Scottish drawings.