Norway’s best-loved discount retailer, Nille, is revitalising its store experience and brand identity with a new concept we’ve designed.

Storytelling is at the heart of the flagship, which aims to reconnect with longstanding customers as well as attract a new audience. In a shift from a functional to an emotional retail experience, the destination inspires joyful living through ‘celebrating Nille moments’ – simple everyday joys and milestones in life.

Moving away from a supermarket aesthetic, cool architectural features, such as the building’s original ceiling, are celebrated as focal points. A simple, neutral palette is accented with bold pops of the brand’s signature yellow and textured finishes. For that all-important ‘time well spent’, there’s a flexible space within the Home department that transforms into a location for workshops.

Organised into clear, edited departments, the store introduces a more rapidly updated product assortment and calls out each section with expressive signage.

We devised a consistent yet flexible communications hierarchy, colour-coded to convey different messages to customers, such as tips, new-in and offers. The brand’s recognisable yellow dot has been given a modern, vibrant twist. Uniforms, receipt wallets and packaging have also been redesigned to give Nille a fresh lease of life.

This confident, inviting and energetic brand identity includes rounded, lower-case typography for a friendlier feel, and a more conversational, upbeat tone of voice. Art direction centres on casual snapshots of good times, styled as if they’re images from customers’ Instagram feeds. Also inspired by social media, the new ‘Nille loves’ concept brings together user-generated content, staff picks, campaigns and hero products under the hashtag #lovedbynille.