Need to Know

Sweden – Payment provider Klarna is dropping its first-ever range of physical products to celebrate its friction-free services.

Building on its Get Smoooth campaign, which highlights how Klarna’s pay later products make everyday life as frictionless as possible, the brand has worked with ‘famously smooth’ rapper and Klarna investor Snoop Dogg to promote the collection. It includes lavish versions of household goods such as silk bedsheets, cashmere toilet paper, gold peanut butter and a 22-feet high inflatable slide.

‘This is the first time that we’re dropping physical products and I’m proud to be releasing this collection together with Snoop Dogg. In the end, I truly believe that this will bring a smile to people’s faces and get more people to discover the perks and the smoothness of paying later with Klarna,’ explains David Sandström, chief marketing officer of Klarna.

Through its colourful, highly visual campaigns, Klarna exemplifies Fluid Capital – the new visual language emerging around financial values, transactions and the appearance of digital money. For more, look out for our upcoming interview with Mervyn ten Dam of Achtung! discussing the future identity of finance.

Canada – Clashing colours and textures are juxtaposed in Nixit’s new brand identity and packaging.

The vegan menstrual cup brand has taken a bold approach to feminine hygiene with simple packaging and messaging, and visually arresting brand imagery. Created by Designsake Studio, the campaign aims to bring a fresh identity to menstrual cups – a product often considered a gross alternative to tampons and sanitary towels – while also highlighting the impact of sanitary products on both women’s bodies and the planet.

‘Our solution included the use of bright colours, clean typography, premium finishes and straightforward messaging on several of the boxes’ exterior and interior panels. Unlike typical tampons, pads and liners, Nixit isn’t overly flowery or feminine. It gives it straight because women can handle it,’ reads a statement from Designsake Studio.

As conversations about women’s personal hygiene evolve, femininity is being rebranded, with creative practitioners abandoning tired gendered design cues in favour of a bold, vibrant aesthetic.

Leading the index for 2019, the capital city of the Philippines has become a hotspot for luxurians seeking a second home or access to a key business hub.‘This is driven by lack of supply and a thriving economy – annual GDP growth exceeded 6% in 2018 – which motivated some expatriates to grab their own slice of real estate back home,’ says Kate Everett-Allen, head of International Residential Research at Knight Frank.

Following in second and third place were Edinburgh and Berlin, cities where buoyant local economies, limited supply and rental demand have boosted high-end house prices. As recently explored in State of Luxury: Poland, new hubs of luxury living are emerging; Warsaw’s 44-floor Cosmopolitan apartment is home to 79 of the 100 most expensive property sales reported in Warsaw between 2015 and 2017.