Milani x Salt-n-Pepa
Collaboration · Packaging · Retail · Experiential
Celebrating an iconic duo through a 360° collaboration.
Milani partnered with iconic hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa on a limited-edition makeup collection celebrating their music, style, and influence. As Senior Graphic Designer, I developed the overall visual look and feel for the collaboration, drawing from 90s hip-hop culture, music packaging, graffiti, and elements of the group’s album artwork.
The visual world extended across four limited-edition products, national retail merchandising, and an immersive launch event. From CD-inspired eyeshadow palettes and interconnected lip kits to a record store pop-up and larger-than-life event installations, each touchpoint was designed to make the collaboration feel like an experience rather than simply a product launch.
ROLE
Senior Designer
SCOPE
Creative Concept
Packaging Design
Retail & Merchandising
Environmental Graphics
Experiential Design
Launch Event
DELIVERABLES
2 Eyeshadow Palettes
2 Lip Kits
Retail Displays
Event Graphics & Installations
Photo Experiences
Milani Records Pop-Up
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator · Adobe Photoshop · Adobe InDesign
WEBSITE
milanicosmetics.com
Creative Concept
The creative direction looked to the visual language of 90s hip-hop and Salt-N-Pepa’s own history for inspiration. Graffiti, spray-painted textures, music packaging, archival imagery, and references to the group’s album artwork came together to create a visual system that felt nostalgic without becoming a literal recreation of the past.
The goal was to celebrate Salt-N-Pepa’s legacy while translating their unmistakable energy into a contemporary beauty collaboration.
Packaging
The collection featured two eyeshadow palettes and two lip kits, each designed to bring the collaboration’s music-inspired visual language into the product experience.
The eyeshadow palettes were inspired by CD cases, layering graffiti, spray-painted textures, photography, and references to Salt-N-Pepa’s album artwork to create packaging that felt like a piece of music memorabilia.
The two lip kits were designed as a pair — when placed side by side, the individual portraits connect to create a single image of Salt-N-Pepa, turning the packaging itself into part of the collection experience.
Retail & Merchandising
The collaboration extended into national retail, where I translated the collection’s visual identity into in-store merchandising for major retailers including Ulta Beauty and Target.
The displays were designed to create immediate impact at shelf while maintaining a clear connection to the packaging and broader campaign — carrying the same bold typography, photography, color, and music-inspired details into the retail environment.
Launch Experience
For the collection launch, I extended the visual world beyond product and retail into an immersive event experience inspired by 90s music culture.
I concepted and designed environmental graphics, photo moments, installations, and branded spaces throughout the venue — transforming the campaign into a physical world guests could explore, photograph, and interact with.
Milani Records
At the center of the event was Milani Records — a miniature record store concept where influencers could discover and pick up the collection as if they were shopping for music.
I developed the visual concept and designed the environment around Salt-N-Pepa and 90s record-store culture, including music posters, fictional Milani Records graphics, product displays, and branded details that transformed the collection into something guests could experience beyond the packaging.
Environmental Design
Throughout the venue, oversized graphics and interactive moments amplified the collection’s music-inspired world. I concepted a graffiti-wall photo experience with a throne, transformed the DJ booth into an oversized boombox, and developed giant CD-inspired mirrors alongside large-scale Salt-N-Pepa imagery that helped transform the space.
Each installation was designed to feel visually connected while giving guests a different way to interact with — and capture — the collaboration.
