Image Credit : Andrew Meredith.
Project Overview
Landini Associates were engaged by ALDI China to design a new trading format for the brand ahead of their first entry into the Chinese market, commencing with two pilot stores in Shanghai.
In tandem with the interiors, Landini Associates designed an extensive series of messaging and graphic illustrations that are entirely unique to the Chinese market.
The design is an evolution of Landini Associates’ work for ALDI Australia, aimed at celebrating and conveying product quality and value. Over 40 messaging boards were developed to communicate the brand ethos, product freshness, value, quality, and European and Australian award-winning products.
ALDI provides more than 1,300 products across 15 categories that are both locally sourced and imported from all around the world. Categories include Wine & Spirits, Snacks, Beverages, Fresh Produce, Ready-to-Eat, Ready-to-Cook, as well as Personal Care and Pet Care products.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Landini Associates are a team of designers and strategic thinkers from around the world, based in Sydney. Their work tends to be multi-skilled as they practice strategy, architecture, interior, graphic, product, furniture and digital design. Most of their projects engage all of these disciplines and currently they are working in Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia and the UAE.
Project Brief
The brief was to design a new trading format for ALDI ahead of their first entry into the Chinese market, commencing with two pilot stores in Shanghai. The format and design is an evolution of Landini Associates’ work for ALDI Australia, aimed at celebrating and conveying product quality and value.
For ALDI Australia, Landini Associates introduced simple illustrations and photography as a way of identifying wayfinding in-store. This system was easy to recognise and navigate for the customer. The use of imagery allows the store to communicate language-free.
In China, Landini worked closely with the ALDI team to understand the local market. The designers noticed many brands in this market used mascots and characters to represent their products. The designers could see that the use of an illustrative style paired with photography would work well and be a recognisable evolution of the ALDI Australia stores. This thinking was adapted to create playful illustrations with quality messaging on aisle ends, columns, and walls of the stores, as well as a brilliant colourful ceiling mural over the check-out counters that captures the confidence and energy of what ALDI has to offer.
Landini Associates’ messaging strategy for ALDI CHINA was to speak about the quality and provenance of the products. The design also aims to introduce ALDI to a new market and tell the story of a well trusted brand with a long successful history.
Project Innovation/Need
There is no signage or ticketing displayed from the ceiling. Instead, category signage around the store perimeter offers greater visibility across the stores and thus encourage cross-store shopping. A vibrant, colourful mural on the ceiling above the service counter and checkouts is a playful hero graphics feature.
Ben Goss, Designer Director: “We gained interesting insights on how Chinese customers value quality and provenance. It’s very important for them to know how and where their products are made. Also there a sense of immediacy and convenience. Instant delivery services are standard in Shanghai and mobile payment apps like WeChat or Alipay are widely used.”
Design Challenge
Understanding local market needs whilst remaining true to the ALDI brand was a design challenge that was overcome by working closely with the local ALDI team.
“We gained interesting insights on how Chinese customers value quality and provenance. It’s very important for them to know how and where their products are made. Also there a sense of immediacy and convenience. Instant delivery services are standard in Shanghai and mobile payment apps like WeChat or Alipay are widely used.” Ben Goss, Associate Graphic Designer Director, Landini Associates
This new design has been customised and tailored specifically for the China market to better understand and interact with Chinese consumers, but also tailored too for the large local ex-pat community.
The shopfront is a bold and clear expression of the ALDI brand that stands out in the busy Chinese retail space. In alcohol, explanatory and interactive signage assists customers in their selection, as imported wine and especially beer is a relatively rare category in China.
Effectiveness
The emphasis is on fresh produce and ready meals, with certain categories articulated for greater consistency, and key products placed at the entry of each aisle alongside messaging to appeal to and drive shoppers.
The new Chinese stores are a milestone for the German-rooted retailer and have drawn massive interest from both the media and public, with managed queues snaking outside both stores for hours upon opening.
“ALDI China wanted a design that would stand out amongst its competitors and we are proud to have partnered with them to deliver this.” - Jenni Whittaker, General Manager, Landini Associates
Graphic Design - Environmental
This award celebrates creativity and innovation in the intersection of communication design and the built environment, and is concerned with the visual aspects of wayfinding, communication identity and brands, information design and shaping the idea of place. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching of information style to audience.
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