Smlxl Put Ecstatic Dogs With Wind Blowing In Their Fur On A Cosmetics Bottle

Creative Boom: Inspiration Branding SMLXL put ecstatic dogs with wind blowing in their fur on a cosmetics bottle The Barcelona and New York studio was asked to merge Midnight Cosmetics' sleek monochrome world with HotDog's bold, chaotic energy – and found the answer in gouache, flying fur, and dogs in a state of pure bliss. Written By: Ayla Angelos 11 June 2026 The brief, on paper, looked like a collision waiting to happen. Midnight Cosmetics – a company defined by minimal, clean, sophisticated aesthetics – wanted to collaborate with HotDog, a pet brand known for its bold colours and energy.

Two visual identities that had almost nothing in common were brought together for a dog fur mist. SMLXL, the Barcelona and New York design studio founded in 2023 by Anna Berbiela, Guillem Casasús and Javier Arizu, was handed the project and told to make it work. What they produced is a fine example of clever packaging design. Midnight's signature black-and-white structure was left almost entirely intact, then detonated by an explosion of gouache-painted dogs caught in moments of pure sensory pleasure – fur flying, faces rapturous and colour running riot across the clinical white ground.

"We decided to take Midnight's signature, clean black-and-white packaging and 'intervene' on it," Guillem explains, "by introducing an explosion of colour and personality." The key was to stop thinking of the two brands as conflicting forces and treat Midnight's minimalism as a base. Once they did that, everything followed. "This allowed HotDog's vibrant, expressive energy to break through, creating a visual tension that is both conceptually sound and highly striking." The mist itself is utterly intangible and physical – designed to soften and refresh a pooches' fur – so SMLXL needed a medium that could communicate that through movement.

"We realised those benefits are best expressed through movement – specifically, hair flowing freely in the air," Guillem says. Gouache, with its saturated colour and rich texture, gave the illustrations the energetic quality they needed and a physicality that makes the product's softness feel almost transferable through the bottle, or like your own hair is starting to move. It is a good example of how SMLXL generally operates.

The three founders met during their first year of university in Barcelona in 2008, went on to work together at the design studio Mucho, spent time separately at studios in London, Barcelona and New York, then reunited to co-found Pràctica in 2018. They ran that studio until 2024, when they launched SMLXL – now a team of seven, with Anna and Guillem in Barcelona and Javier heading up New York. The name captures something essential about how they work across whatever the project demands.

Their portfolio runs from the visual identity system for the America's Cup to Barcelona's Christmas lights, from a New York Times Magazine cover to the signage system for the recently redesigned MoMA Design Store in SoHo. The thread between it all is a process that starts with finding the core idea, then jumping right in. "Before diving into design or any purely graphic exercise," Guillem says, "we zoom out to focus on the core idea.

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This collaboration highlights a unique approach to brand identity integration, making it significant for the industry while offering actionable insights for brand strategy professionals.