Golde Wellness

*Golde branding and photography

How I work:

Golde started as a one-product wellness brand out of a Brooklyn apartment and grew into one of the most recognizable superfood names in the space. AK Studios was brought in to design the flagship glassware, packaging, and brand identity.

The Brief

Golde needed a hero product to anchor their glassware line. We were tasked with designing Cup 001 from concept to manufacturable final, alongside a packaging system and supporting brand assets.

The Team

Led a cross-functional team including Corwin Ackerman on manufacturing sourcing and a group of junior designers supporting brand and photo production. All final deliverables were signed off directly with Trinity Mouzon Wofford, CEO and co-founder.

My Role

Designed the final form of Cup 001, led the brand and packaging direction, and served as creative director across the photo shoot. Responsible for the vision from first sketch to final asset.

Tools Used

  • Adobe Photoshop

  • Adobe Illustrator

  • SolidWorks

  • Photography and Videography

  • Manufacturing Sourcing

Making the Cup

Golde came to us with a clear feeling they wanted to capture: organic, bubbly, and shaped around the way people actually hold and use a glass. The design challenge was finding a form that felt sculptural but stayed practical.

Translated the client's references into a shared visual language across the team before a single line was drawn.

Discovery

Generated a broad collection of thumbnail sketches exploring organic profiles, grip zones, and silhouette variations.

Ideation

Presented concept directions to Trinity and the Golde team, gathering feedback and aligning on the ripple profile as the winning direction.

Client Pitch

Developed the chosen direction into a resolved form, tightening proportions and testing grip ergonomics before moving to CAD.

Refinement

Finding the maker

We got to work making the SolidWorks file but quickly found that this organic form was easier to execute in Fusion 360, so we made the switch. With the form resolved, the next challenge was finding a manufacturer who could execute a double wall glassblown piece at the quality Golde needed. We sourced a factory in Shenzhen through a combination of LinkedIn outreach and Import Yeti, vetted several options, and landed on a partner who could handle both the glass and the packaging under one roof.

Sent .STEP and .STL files along with a full NPI package to the manufacturer in Shenzhen.

File Handoff

Redesigned the cup as two separate pieces, an inner glass and an outer shell, to accommodate the double wall construction.

Re-engineering

Settled on a paper pulp insert nested inside a fully branded shippable box, produced by the same manufacturer.

Packaging

Ordered samples across both the glass and packaging. They came back perfect.

Sampling

The Final Glass

The biggest lesson was knowing when to change tools and trusting the process all the way through to the sample stage before committing to production. We proceeded with product photography and designing the website to get Golde Co. back to selling.

“AK Studios Killed this S***. Griffin was an amazing designer who handled our every need with care and precision. He was always available to answer questions and rework anything we weren't happy with. He executed our exact vision and we couldn't have done it better ourselves.

— Trinity Mouzon Wofford, Co-Founder and CEO, Golde