Case Study

Target's Heyday

Breaking into a crowded category.

Industry
Electronics
Stage
Enterprise

Target wanted to launch their first electronics and accessories brand. The new line would offer a full range of 150 moderately-priced products to showcase emerging design ideas in...

Target wanted to launch their first electronics and accessories brand. The new line would offer a full range of 150 moderately-priced products to showcase emerging design ideas in consumer tech.

Target’s Creative Team invited COLLINS to develop the brand strategy, identity, and design program. Our goal was to expand Target’s relationship with their guests through new, high-quality products that addressed the need for novelty, simplicity, and joy.

Simple design and packaging framing the product’s vibrant colors, lively form, and inventive details were the answer. We wanted to help Target’s guests find more delight in the everyday products that connect them with friends and family.

To help do that we:

  • Created a playful packaging program that makes it easy for consumers to navigate and select their favorite products and options.
  • Developed a new language of over 100 helpful iconographic symbols and icons to quickly communicate the benefits and features of each product.
  • Brought to life a new signature brand character, Heyday, and his now trademarked smile by anthropomorphizing an otherwise overlooked hang tab, giving the brand a lighthearted wink.

Since its launch, Heyday has continually sold out in stores nationwide, with products being highlighted in Good Housekeeping as the ‘Best Buy’, USA Today, and Forbes, reporting this new line’s launch has successfully led Target into new consumer categories.

COLLINS
Leo PortoSanuk KimKevin ChaoAntonia LazarMari JulianoBrian Collins
Target Creative

Augments

Augments are add-on components or properties that enhance a design system’s performance. They introduce new capabilities, expand functionality and improve how the system works across contexts.

Augments

Augments are add-on components or properties that enhance a design system’s performance. They introduce new capabilities, expand functionality and improve how the system works across contexts.

Grid

A structural system enforcing consistency and adaptability across an enormous decentralized identity system.

Custom Icon System

Built on a strict grid for consistent alignment, sizing and spacing, our customer icon system is clean, legible and easy to reproduce across digital and physical formats.

Choice Architecture

A component augment that combines color coding, icons and hierarchy to guide consumers effortlessly through product lines at shelf. By reducing decision fatigue and enabling clear differentiation, it empowers consumers to make informed choices at a glance.

Shelf Pop

A performance property that ensures packaging visually pops on crowded shelves, driving purchase decisions in the critical 2.5-second scan window. High-contrast colors, bold typography and distinct shapes boost brand recognition by up to 80%.

Sticky Dissonance

A performance property that creates calculated tension to disrupt expectations and hook the imagination. This strategic friction drives memorability and salience, turning cognitive resistance into enduring resonance and magnetic appeal.

Impact

Immediate Sell-Through Success

Products routinely sold out nationwide, with early demand exceeding projections and prompting expanded shelf space within months.

Elevated Perception

Heyday shifted expectations for what affordable tech accessories, injecting joy, style and novelty into an often sterile category.

Simplified Shelf Navigation

A playful icon system and packaging program made complex features approachable, boosting product navigation and consumer confidence.

Garnered National Press, Accolades

Heyday was named a “Best Buy” by Good Housekeeping and featured in Forbes and USA Today for its inventive brand approach.

Built Equity in Everyday Tech

The character-led identity gave Target an ownable, trademarked signal in a sea of indistinct store brands, instantly recognizable at shelf.