The evolving aesthetics of wellness culture

For the last decade or so, the wellness industry has been on a cultural rollercoaster. What began with health food shops, homeopathic remedies and slightly dusty-looking packaging soon escalated into something far glossier, pricier, and - frankly - stranger.  

Consumers are no longer content with vague promises or lofty taglines. They want to know what a product does, why it costs what it costs, and how it fits into their actual lives.

At one point, the pinnacle of ‘self-care’ was Gwyneth Paltrow encouraging people to stick jade eggs in uncomfortable places for three-figure sums. 

Wellness became something aspirational and exclusive, packaged in soft neutrals, photographed in painfully middle class kitchens, and endorsed by celebrities who were always somehow glowing. 

Brands like Goop, Kin Euphorics and Alani Nu positioned wellness not as something functional or everyday, but as a lifestyle; something elite, curated, and often unattainable for the average person.  

Brands like Trip are adopting functional benefits and cleaner storytelling, neatly packaged in soft neutrals.

But over the past few years, something interesting has happened. Particularly in categories like functional drinks, we’re seeing a move away from the preciousness and pseudo-science of early wellness branding. Instead, a new wave of design and storytelling is emerging and it’s one rooted in accessibility, transparency, and cultural reality rather than aspiration alone.  

Wellness is no longer positioned as an exclusive lifestyle for people with the right income, time or knowledge.

Walk into any supermarket or corner shop today and the shelves tell a very different story from the Goop era. We’re seeing kombucha from Hip Pop, CBD sodas like Trip and prebiotic drinks like Olipop and Poppi. Even energy drinks, once a world of neon and aggression, are adopting functional benefits and cleaner storytelling.  

This democratisation of wellness is a huge shift. Consumers are no longer content with vague promises or lofty taglines. They want to know what a product does, why it costs what it costs, and how it fits into their actual lives. High price tags and nebulous benefits just don’t work in high street retail.

Brands such as Olipop take a very different visual route, leaning heavily into playful retro aesthetics.

The rise of ‘Accessible Premium’  

We’re also seeing the rise of what you could call ‘accessible premium’ in the wellness space. Brands like Trip have perfected this balance, using lavender tones, calming illustrations and elegant typography that sit somewhere between premium beauty and everyday soft drinks. It feels aspirational without being exclusive; elegant without tipping into elitism.   

The challenge is to communicate function in a way that feels educational but not overwhelming, aspirational but not elitist, and culturally relevant without drifting into gimmick. 

Meanwhile, brands such as Olipop and Poppi take a very different visual route, leaning heavily into playful retro aesthetics. Their pastel palettes, soda-shop cues and nostalgic storytelling reframe gut health as something fun and familiar rather than clinical, helping functional drinks appeal to people who may never have explored wellness products before. 

At the other end of the spectrum, Seed embraces a more scientific design language, using precise typography, diagrammatic layouts and lab-inspired visual cues to signal trust and transparency.   

What’s interesting is that all of these approaches coexist within the same cultural moment, each offering a different route into wellness. Rather than selling perfection, they invite participation. Wellness is no longer positioned as an exclusive lifestyle for people with the right income, time or knowledge — it’s an accessible ecosystem where consumers can choose the aesthetic and level of engagement that works for them.  

Burnout culture has pushed audiences to crave simple, quick solutions and products that fit into their everyday lives.

The functional frenzy  

Younger consumers, in particular, are driving demand for products with added benefits. Protein is now in everything from cereal to coffee, hydration drinks come loaded with mineral blends, and snacks casually promise cognitive support. The idea of buying something that only quenches thirst or only fills you up increasingly feels like a missed opportunity to get some extra benefits.   

This shift has had a noticeable impact on both design and storytelling. Packaging is now dense with active ingredients and simple, functional claims, with ‘better-for-you’ messages brought to the front rather than buried in the fine print. Brands are learning to balance scientific credibility with everyday clarity, and their visual language has become more direct and functional, moving away from the ethereal aesthetic that once dominated the category. 

There’s a fine line between not saying enough and overwhelming consumers with too much information. The key is to make sure that there is enough to inform decision-making in store.  

But there’s some tension here: people having varying degrees of literacy when it comes to active ingredients. Some consumers care deeply about nootropics and adaptogens. Others simply want something ‘better’ without needing to understand the biochemistry behind it.  

For creatives working in this space, clarity is key. The challenge is to communicate function in a way that feels educational but not overwhelming, aspirational but not elitist, and culturally relevant without drifting into gimmick. And crucially, government regulation is way behind the advancements in nutrition, meaning brands often cannot make direct claims about the benefits of ingredients like functional mushrooms or newer nootropics. That makes visual language and storytelling more important than ever.  

AG1's visuals draw inspiration from sports, science, and daily routine, a language that feels reliable rather than aspirational.  

Cultural burnout and the search for ‘real’ wellness  

A major driver of this visual and narrative reset is something more human: collective exhaustion. Burnout culture has pushed audiences to crave simplicity, honesty, and real-world usefulness. Wellness is no longer about becoming your ‘higher self’ - it's about coping better with the version you already are.  

You can see this in; the rise of humour-led wellness brands, packaging that looks like a friendly update rather than a life overhaul, visual cues borrowed from pharmacy, storytelling that prioritises relatability over perfection, and in sports and everyday beverages.   

People want things that work, things they can trust, and things that feel like they’re made for real lives, not airbrushed ones.  

Take Aesthetic Greens (AG1) for example, positioned as a simple, everyday ritual rather than a total lifestyle reboot, AG1 uses clear, grounded storytelling. Their visuals draw inspiration from sports, science, and daily routine, a language that feels reliable rather than aspirational.  

At Sneak we’ve always wrestled with how we communicate that we’re a ’better-for-you’ energy drink, without diluting the chaotic nature of the brand. Visually the cans have a typically Sneak, bright, playful aesthetic, but there are subtle cues that there’s more to us than meets the eye. The prominent ‘Zero Sugar’ at the top of the can is a familiar gateway to ‘better’, with the additional benefits listed with icons on the side. There’s a fine line between not saying enough and overwhelming consumers with too much information. The key is to make sure that there is enough to inform decision-making in store.