NIKI PILKINGTON x TANYA WHITEBITS

Guys, I have some exciting news for you - I’m officially the creative director of the wonderful brand @tanyawhitebits. So here's how it happened & a little about what you should expect to see over the next few months..

I’ve tried a lot of fake tans in my time (& had more orange disasters then I care to think about). I’m naturally pretty pale & very freckley so I’ve always been scared of ‘naturally’ tanning - plus I don’t really enjoy lying in the sun, I find it a bit clammy & uncomfortable, so always slap on factor 50 day-to-day but keep my skin looking golden with a little extra help from a bottle.

So when Tanya Whitebits founder, Shoned (a long time friend & super woman entrepreneur) reached out about about creating the artwork for her ‘Tanya Whitebits’ products, I jumped at the chance. As a fellow Welshie supporter I’d already tried & loved the tan, so I needed no convincing on the product & was excited about the challenge of rebranding this cracking brand she’d built from the ground up. She'd commissioned artwork very early on, which doubled as a logo & labels for the bottles, but knew it was only a matter of time that the packaging would all need to be changed to reflect the wonderful product inside.

First job was the logo. I've done lots of layout / typography work, so was keen to help out here, as I knew a great logo was important to compliment the artwork I was going be creating. We worked together with an agency (shoutout to View Creative) to create the new logo (above) then after countless meetings & cups of tea, we quickly realized that this was more than just a ‘new packaging' job for me to get involved with. We both had the same vision going forward & it was simply too much for Shoned to undertake alone - she was the brains behind the product but would be the first to admit the the visual side wasn't her strong suit, that's where I came in. So we decided that as well as creating the illustrations for all the products, I would also be the person to oversee the visuals of the brand - so voila, here I am, Niki Pilkington, creative director!

I’m so incredibly excited to finally be able to tell you all about this. It's my first time doing something like this, so it's going to be a fun journey for sure & one I'll be updating you on regularly (for all you others wanting to do similar things - hopefully I can share helpful tips that guide you in the right direction). Right now we've just released this palm tree design (see below) which you'll see on the self tan mousse bottles & all the other artwork I've been working hard on behind the scenes will be heading your way very soon.

I’m so madly in love with this product & honestly believe it’s the best fake tan I’ve ever used. (It’s vegan friendly, contains organic ingredients & paraben, cruelty & alcohol free!) & gives you that gorgeous bronze glow without the nasty smell & residue of other competitors. I hope you guys love what we start releasing over the coming weeks (new products, new packaging, events, tips & tricks for the perfect tan). You can watch our progress on @tanyawhitebits & Facebook/tanyawhitebits.co.uk. Why not come by & say hi & let us know what you think of the new look?! We'd love to hear your thoughts. Right now it’s only available to purchase in the UK, but orders are better then we could have ever imagined so I’m sure we’ll be selling worldwide in no time.

Can't wait to share our journey with you on both @TanyaWhitebits & my page @NikiPilkington

(PS. Our brand new website is launching very soon - we're just adding the last finishing touches to make it extra sparkly & perfect - I'll add the link here once it's up)

XO