From Packaging to Partnership

CONTEXT My work with Step Change Innovations began with packaging production support for the launch of Wellwerks and Nüwerks, two new lines of functional foods, beverages, and supplements. As the work expanded, so did my role, moving beyond packaging into broader creative and communication challenges.

Rather than coming to me with tightly defined briefs, Step Change increasingly brought me projects where the objective was clear but the creative path wasn't. Whether the need involved launching a large volume of social content or preparing customer-facing presentations for important meetings, the challenge was often the same: determine the right approach, bring structure to an underdeveloped idea, and move it quickly toward a polished solution.

GOAL Help Step Change turn loosely defined creative needs into clear, effective solutions across product, marketing, and customer communications.

MY ROLE Working directly with senior leadership, I was given significant latitude to determine how assigned projects should take shape. That included defining visual approaches, organizing and simplifying information, identifying the right production methods, and determining when the work was ready for leadership review.

What began as packaging support grew into a broader relationship built around creative judgment, speed, and trust.

APPROACH As new needs emerged, I approached each project by first determining what the creative solution needed to accomplish, then identifying the most effective way to get there.

When Step Change needed to quickly build a social program across a large number of products, I researched and developed an AI-assisted workflow that combined competitive analysis, positioning, concept development, and image creation. The approach made it possible to develop distinct creative across a broad product portfolio on an accelerated timeline without relying on a traditional production process.

That same problem-solving mindset carried into customer-facing presentations. Starting with rough, information-heavy decks, I reworked flow and hierarchy, streamlined content, and translated complex ideas into clearer visual communication. I also developed reusable visual patterns that created greater consistency and made subsequent presentations easier to build.

OUTCOME Step Change’s initial need for production support developed into an ongoing creative partnership in which I am regularly asked to take loosely defined challenges and determine the most effective way to move them forward.

The work has supported a large packaging rollout, enabled the rapid development of social assets across a broad product portfolio, and improved sales and partnership presentations used in high-priority customer conversations.

Just as important, the engagement established a working relationship built on trust, creative judgment, and ownership.

Some presentation examples shown in this case study have been recreated with representative content to protect confidential and proprietary information.

Design Credits
Michael Ebner