Annette Harcus of Harcus Design distills the beauty of Australian provenance into a sophisticated packaging suite for Maine Beach’s Riverland Orange collection. Guided by the aromatic richness of cold-pressed citrus oils and the lush vitality of the Riverland region, this Gold-winning project from Graphis Packaging 10 artfully balances tactile luxury with quiet restraint. From custom-shaped vessels to embossed metallic detailing, the range evokes a premium sensory experience rooted in nature and elevated through design. Under the creative direction of Annette Harcus and Galya Akhmetzyanova, each element reflects a deep understanding of materials, craftsmanship, and brand storytelling.

By: Annette Harcus, Designer & Founder, Harcus Design

Maine Beach collections celebrate the Australian essence with iconic ingredients and memorable fragrances. This Australian brand of body care and home fragrances produces distinct ranges that feature key ingredients. Riverland Orange is a premium body care range with Riverland Orange and Lemon Rind—authentic Australian ingredients of provenance.

Its juicy, antioxidant goodness forms the basis of this beauty range and inspired our packaging design. The packaging revels in tactile finishes, textural patterning, and luscious embossed foil. This uplifting and refreshing citrus collection contains the finest orange and lemon oils sourced from the orchards around the iconic Murray-Darling Rivers, known as the ‘Riverland.’ The lifeblood of Australia, these rivers gather alluvial soils and provide enriched water, creating arguably Australia’s most fertile agricultural lands. Along with its Mediterranean climate, the Riverland is the perfect cultivation area for citrus. Sourced from the oldest distillers of the region, the citrus oils are cold-pressed to retain all their flavour, aroma, and healthy antioxidants, making them great for skincare requirements. Cold-pressed oils are rich in vitamin E, which has anti-inflammatory and healing properties.

These beauty products are primarily purchased as gifts. In the gift-giving market, packaging reigns supreme as a ‘ready-made’ present. The project entailed the design and selection of shapes, materials, textures, and finishes for all the products and product components (from aluminium bottles, pumps, tubes, tins, various shapes of boxing, etc.).

With a variety of pack shapes, maintaining cohesion across the range of items was paramount—to create a coordinated suite of products, all using different print production methods and substrates. The range of shapes was part of the challenge.

As premium products, we wanted to elevate the visual appeal. The branding for ‘Maine Beach’ sits quietly on the packs, and the actual ‘ingredient’ name stands proud. Our approach was to avoid the stereotypical brightly coloured ‘orange crate’ graphic direction to steer it away from ‘fresh produce’ and bring it into the beauty sphere. We introduced a restrained colour palette—cream and grey with a bright accent of orange metallic foil. This, with a flexible ratio of type to illustration and strict colour matching, presented a calm but lush presence, uniting the collection. A hero botanical illustration of oranges, leaves, and blossoms is gently center stage, overlaid with a formal type panel. This allowed for the illustration to be customized in scale and shape to suit each pack size.

Annette Harcus established Harcus Design eons ago, with the green blitheness of youth, in 1982—a couple of years after completing her Visual Communication degree at Sydney College of the Arts (now UTS). Since 1990, her primary focus has been on the three-dimensional world of brands and packaging. Her work has been consistently recognized, winning national and international awards and being featured in many publications and exhibitions. Fostering strong client relationships through direct designer/client liaison has resulted in creating mutually beneficial, long-standing business partnerships. In 2018, Annette was honored to be inducted into the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) “Hall of Fame.” In 2020, Good Design Australia nominated Annette as a Good Design Ambassador. The Good Design Ambassadors are a select group of individuals within the design community who have made, and continue to make, a positive impact on the design profession both in Australia and internationally. Annette revels in being a hands-on designer, as well as the creative lead at Harcus.

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