vitaminwater Makes a Splash with New Packaging Redesign

Photo credit: Coca-Cola Company

Coca-Cola Company’s vitaminwater is no stranger to being unique and making bold claims, as the brand is known for including humorous descriptions and stories on their packaging since its inception in 1996. Acquired by Coca-Cola in 2007, vitaminwater (Glaceau) has been a pioneer in the enhanced water and medicinal water categories, known for its clever branding and wide product range.

Despite being successful over the years, the team at vitaminwater saw a need to reinvent the brand and give the packaging a “simpler, less-medicinal look” that would stand out in a crowded enhanced water and vitamin water category.

On May 14, 2025, the Coca-Cola Company published a statement on the redesign, stating:

"The refreshed visual identity—which rolled out across the vitaminwater portfolio starting in March—features a cleaner, bolder packaging label design with vibrant, flavor-forward colors, an enlarged and stacked logo with modernized typography, and playful flavor descriptions channeling the irreverent voice of the New York-born-and-bred brand.” 

The redesign, pictured above, contains a number of new packaging elements, including:

• Full-bleed color labels to help identify flavors easier 

• A white label to help identify zero-sugar products easier 

• An updated logo with a water droplet in the “a” in vitamin and water

• Removal of stats table on the front of label to look less medicinal and the inclusion of a small callout of health-related info on back of package 

• A more minimalist look throughout the label design, including shorter clever quotes and stories

To help identify the differences, refer to the graphic below of the Dragonfruit power-c packaging design from before and after the redesign: 

Despite major changes to the label, including omitting the chart that discloses %s of vitamins and more, vitaminwater still decided to include clever captions on the new packaging, like the one on the Dragonfruit bottle below— “with vitamin c. for immune support when adulting gets hard. so like, every day.”

According to Creative Bloq, vitaminwater partnered with London and Amsterdam-based design agency forpeople to bring the redesign to life, including tweaks to the logo and packaging design. While working with forpeople, the vitaminwater team conducted an audit of “what makes the brand cool through a 2025 lens,” an initiative led by Matt Cooper, vitaminwater’s Design Director. 

Cooper states:

"At the heart of our creative brief was a challenge to make the brand more provocative and irreverent while preserving our core credentials. We did an audit of what makes this brand cool through a 2025 lens and explored how we could modernize the equation the brand used to create the enhanced water category 25 years ago.”

Rapha Abreu, Global Vice President of Design at the Coca-Cola Company, was quoted in Creative Bloq stating: 

“At the beginning, vitaminwater was far ahead of its time in the enhanced water space. Now the world’s caught up, it’s our responsibility to make sure the brand stays at the forefront of today’s culture. As an identity that started out as fresh and iconic, it’s lost some of its vibrancy over the years. We needed a shot of visual and verbal punchiness to cut through all the new noise on the shelf.”

As a pioneer and legacy brand in the enhanced waters category, it will be fascinating to see how consumers react to this redesign. While we admire vitaminwater’s efforts to modernize their labeling to appear less “medicinal” and align with their messaging, time will tell if health-conscious consumers prefer the old packaging, including detailed information on the health benefits of the drink.

The Packaging School team will be monitoring this redesign to see if it’s a success or failure in the coming months—stay tuned for updates! 

Read more on the redesign of one of the world’s most popular enhanced water brands here. 

Read more about beverage packaging redesigns in our Beverage Packaging Redesigns: 2025 index.

Develop a framework for Packaging Redesigns

Every packaging redesign project holds its own unique challenges, including but not limited to balancing internal and external stakeholder considerations, budget, navigating partnerships, alignment with marketing, branding, sales, sustainability and ergonomic considerations, and much more.

All these factors make packaging redesigns one of the most challenging components of packaging management, which is even more true for fast moving CPG goods like food and beverage products. Despite countless hours and dollars invested, many brands fall short on redesigns—leading to a loss in sales, market share, and brand image. 

To help brands, designers, and small businesses navigate these challenges, the Packaging School team created a 60-hour online program to help your team develop a framework for packaging redesign projects, tapping into 70+ human psychology and ergonomic design tactics—introducing our newest course, reDesign Your Package. 

Learn more about the program here. 

Interested in training your team? Reach out to Dr. Julie Rice Suggs, our Academic Director, at julie@packagingschool.com to learn more.