"I thought it was great that Luzia was 100% passionate about something that didn't even exist back then," says Thea Broszio, the founder of Womatics. With her innovative "Mama Cooling Gel", she wanted to remedy a problem that she encountered herself as a young mother: sore breasts. According to her, the product is aimed at a new generation of mothers who are open to the world and consciously pay attention to the environment and modern design. She commissioned graphic designer Luzia Hein to create the design; in this interview, they both talk about how the collaboration went.
Luzia, where do you get your inspiration from? What made you become a designer?
My path to design was pretty classic - I took an art performance course at school and realized that I was more interested in working with lettering and posters than painting or realistic pencil drawings. Afterwards I studied communication design in Mainz and Hamburg and then worked for two years in a permanent position. In 2019, my work was awarded the Newcomer Prize of the German Design Award, which was also a trigger for me to become a freelance graphic designer in 2020.
I often find inspiration and new ideas during breaks from work, for example while walking in Planten und Bloomen or swimming, when my head is free and my thoughts can wander. But of course I am also inspired by the work of artists and designers from other disciplines, such as Daniel Buren, Muller van Severen or Camille Walala.
Thea, why did you want such a beautifully designed product? Anyone else would surely have chosen the slimmer version.
Personally, it was very important to me that the product, in addition to being functional, looked appealing and had a kind of gift character. Joy and sorrow - as they say - are often close together. And that's exactly how Womatics should be. The problem solver that still brings you joy. And a design that helps to bring quiet topics out of their quiet corner in a dignified and unashamed way.
Luzia's design means that the tube doesn't look like a don't-talk-about-it product, but fresh, young, modern and stylish.
How did you come across Luzia?
As I started with the idea of Womatics on my own, it was very important to me that I found someone who was local to Hamburg. I wanted to share my idea personally. I make a lot of decisions in life based on my gut feeling, so it was particularly important to me that there was a good interpersonal fit. I met Luzia in a kind of creative workspace-sharing atmosphere, where she still had her desk at the time. That alone was such a great experience and you could immediately feel the creativity in this place as a non-creative person. Luzia was just as enthusiastic about my idea as I was. I thought it was great that she was 100% passionate about something that didn't actually exist at the time. In other words, with the risk that no big company would come knocking, but a one-woman show with an idea in mind.
What idea did you have of the design and how were you able to convey this to Luzia?
In our first conversation, we both quickly realized what the Mama Cooling Gel should look like. The design wasn't submitted in advance in a classic briefing, but was created through our exchange. When I saw the first proposals a short time later, I knew that this would be a good, long-term collaboration with Luzia. And I am very grateful for that. And it has been confirmed to this day.
Luzia, how exactly do you proceed when you are commissioned to design a "Mama Cooling Gel"?
When we first spoke to Thea, we both quickly realized that we had a similar idea of her product, which was a very good starting point for our collaboration. For me, it was great that Thea was completely new to the market and that I was able to help design the visual appearance right from the start. So I first created a corporate design for Womatics before I started working on the packaging for the Mama Cooling Gel, which gave us the initial framework for the packaging design. We agreed that the Cooling Gel needed a self-confident design, so it shouldn't just come in soft pastel shades and look as inconspicuous as possible.
What attracted you to this topic?
I liked Thea's story about wanting to launch a product on the market that she herself had always missed. I also found the feedback from other mothers I spoke to about it super interesting, because most of them were also fed up with cabbage and curd wraps and were thrilled that someone was developing a product to combat this problem. I also thought it was great that Thea believed in her idea and was determined to realize it.
More about Luzia Hein
The Womatics website