Brand and Packaging Designer
© 2025 Carlita Bryant
Cracked
Founded in 2020, Cracked began as a creative outlet for people to find therapy in self-expression during a period of isolation. Today, it's a popular indie nail polish brand, loved for its ethically sourced, vegan, and cruelty-free formulas, available in over 100 colors to suit all nail art enthusiasts. Since its inception, the brand has seen significant growth, introducing innovative tools and expanding its creative polish collections. Despite that momentum, its visual identity had not kept pace with the bold voice and community it had built.
In partnership with Isabella Svensson (ArtCenter Graphic Design BFA), we conceptualized a rebrand that captures Cracked's irreverent tone, its celebration of unique self-expression, and its philosophy of finding beauty in natural imperfection. This identity and packaging system translates the brand's existing personality into a cohesive design language, where intentional typographic breaks, distorted physical forms, and raw-material honesty work together as a unified whole. Where the beauty industry defaults to polish and uniformity, Cracked resists.
Recognition
ArtCenter Student Gallery
brand identity and packaging design
Structural irregularities are treated as features, not flaws, and natural materials extend that philosophy from the product formulas into the packaging itself. The system spans Cracked's hero polishes and top and base coats, and introduces three new product lines: nail polish remover, nail serum, and hand moisturizer. Each extension was designed to feel native to the brand world while expanding its presence into the broader space of intentional, ingredient-aware beauty. Sustainability was considered at every form (nail polish bottles, the moisturizer tub, and the chrome dip powder container), which are crafted from recycled glass, while the polish remover and nail serum utilize polished aluminum.
Our audit of the brand, its competitors, and the cosmetics industry revealed a critical gap: Cracked existed entirely online, with no presence in the physical spaces where beauty culture lives. We addressed that by designing Cracked into environments like Sephora and BeautyCon, creating a retail and experiential presence that could hold its own against commercial counterparts while staying true to the brand's indie identity.
As part of our brand strategy research, we explored emerging technologies that could position Cracked as an industry innovator. That search led us to a newly developed nail polish refill system from 2025, which became the foundation for a concept we made our own: a Cracked refill station where fans can sustainably re-up on their favorite polishes.