Snøhetta designs colorful universe for Norwegian startup Minimeis

Communicating to both children and parents, Minimeis places safety, simplicity and humor at its core. Bringing the brand to life, Snøhetta has created a colorful universe for the Norwegian startup, including a visual identity, a website designed to support e-commerce and sustainable packaging design, in addition to expanding the company’s product portfolio.

Founded in 2013, by three fathers with a vision to empower parents to be more active with their kids, Minimeis is the startup behind the award-winning invention that allows children to sit safely on their parents’ shoulders – in both comfort and style – while freeing up their parents’ hands.

To take the company to the next level, scaling up its production and strengthening its product design, Minimeis joined forces with Snøhetta in 2019. Through the collaboration, Minimeis has been able to further professionalize its business, refine its products, improving the overall customer journey, and communicating on-brand with a sense of safety, simplicity and humor.

Minimeis had already succeeded in establishing a fruitful down-to-earth, honest, and direct style of communication. Consequently, they also possessed a substantial number of followers – or so called “minimeisers”. The minimeisers make up a network of ambassadors, who love, use, and promote the shoulder carriers. The new identity passes elements from this established and conversional tone, combining it with simplicity, energy, and humor.

Together with Minimeis, Snøhetta settled on a gender-neutral and lively color palette. Implemented across the website, packaging design, new products, and in communication on social media, the palette is holistic and recognizable for both children and parents.

To stand out in the segment, and applaud the strong tone of voice, Snøhetta created a type-heavy iden­ti­ty. The font is characteristic, slight­ly weird and bold. Uppercase messaging supports the impression of confident and free speech. The secondary font is sub­tle, sta­ble, and safe. It is set to build trust and security, which is crucial for a brand communicating with parents.

Minimeis mainly sells directly to customer, making the digital platform critical. In close collaboration with Minimeis, Snøhetta created the new online home where all the graphical elements and design principles from the design manual are applied. The new website design has a user-centric approach. To ensure optimized user friendliness, strong branding and easy navigation is prioritized: Focus has been put on forming an intuitive course throughout the site, making it easy to navigate. The products are presented and bundled in multiple ways to smooth the shopping experience. The features are designed to work effectively across all devices and platforms, providing a uniform presence on both mobile and desktop.

Facilitating an outdoor lifestyle, Snøhetta connected with Gaitline to develop the Game Changer – fun and smart shoes with a mission to maximize kids’ happiness from step one. The Game Changer carries Minimeis’ competence in making products that are safe and easy to handle, and Gaitline’s experience in shoemaking appropriate for movement and an urban lifestyle. Snøhetta elucidated the cooperation through the branding of the shoes. Choices regarding logo compilation, colors, product name, typography, and tone of voice became crucial to recognize both the characteristics of Gaitline and of Minimeis.

The customers’ first physical encounter with Minimeis is through its packaging. The packaging has a playful appearance, while still being safe, sustainable, and easy to handle. Products are shipped in recycled plastic bags which again can be recycled. The shoes are packed in bags made from small pieces of left-over fabrics. When buying several products, larger products are used as packaging for the smaller ones, limiting the use of materials and reducing the footprint.  

The project balances the need to preserve Minimeis’ key identity elements, while still responding to a demand for renewal and commercialization. The outcome is a comprehensive design solution rooted in established concept and strategy across different outlets.

 

Additional media assets availble upon request.
Please see download link for animations. 

© Minimeis
© Snøhetta
© Minimeis© Snøhetta
© Minimeis© Snøhetta
© Minimeis© Minimeis
© Snøhetta© Minimeis
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About Snøhetta

For almost 40 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. 

Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original transdisciplinary approach, and often integrates a combination of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and art across its projects. The collaborative nature between Snøhetta's different disciplines is an essential driving force of the practice.

Today, Snøhetta has a global presence, with studios in seven locations spanning from Oslo to Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.

Snøhetta is currently working on a wide range of international projects, including the Shanghai Grand Opera House, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dakota, Harbourside redevelopment in Sydney and La Croisette in Cannes, to name a few. 

Recently completed works include Vertikal Nydalen in Oslo, Beijing City Library, the renovation of Musée national de la Marine in Paris, Orionis - the planetarium and observatory of Douai, Airside in Hong Kong, Esbjerg Maritime Center in Denmark, 550 Madison Garden and Revitalization in New York, as well as Volum lamps for Lodes.

Some of Snøhetta's previous projects include Ordrupgaard Art Museum expansion in Denmark, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York City, Le Monde Group Headquarters in Paris, including the wayfinding and signage, Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under, the redesign of the public space in Times Square, the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art, Powerhouse Brattørkaia and design for Norway’s new banknotes.

Snøhetta’s working method simultaneously explores traditional handicraft and cutting-edge digital technology. At the heart of all Snøhetta’s work lies a commitment to social and environmental sustainability, shaping the built environment and design in the service of humanism. Every project is designed with strong, meaningful concepts in mind – concepts that can translate the ethos of its users and their context.

Among many recognitions, Snøhetta has been awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Aga Kahn Prize for Architecture for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2016, Snøhetta was named Wall Street Journal Magazine's Architecture Innovator of the Year, and the practice has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company two years in a row. In 2020, Snøhetta was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture, bestowed by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2021 and 2022, Snøhetta’s Forite tiles won the Sustainable Design of the Year by Dezeen and Best Domestic Design by Wallpaper* in 2022, and the wayfinding system for Le Monde Group Headquarters was acknowledged with Monocle Design Awards. In 2023, Snøhetta won a number of awards for the Esbjerg Maritime Center and was named Architects of the Year at the Monocle Design Awards, in 2024 included a number of awards to Beijing Library and the BIA 2024 Award to Snøhetta and in 2025, Snøhetta was recognized with the OPAL Special Award for Sustainability, among others. 

Disclaimer: All materials provided by Snøhetta are intended exclusively for editorial use to communicate the specified project(s). The use of this material for commercial or third-party purposes is strictly prohibited. No material may be edited or altered from its original state in any manner. Credit must be given for all content used, acknowledging Snøhetta and/or the photographer or creator as the source. By using Snøhetta's press material, you agree to these terms and conditions.

 

Contact

Snøhetta Akershusstranda 21, Skur 39 N-0150 Oslo, Norway

press@snohetta.com

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