Gabby Escobar

Designer +

Gu Energy Labs

Packaging Systems, Brand Refresh

Gu Energy Labs is an athletic nutrition brand that I have been dedicated to for years as I trained from 5k road races to 50-mile ultramarathons. I took this opportunity to assess the brand’s current state and reimagine Gu’s visual system to embody both the competitive and community of endurance sports.

The new Gu presents its athlete-tested and approved formula with confidence yet maintains approachability. It is designed to inspire confidence and connection at every stage of performance.

Dieline Best of Packaging 2025

Concept Editor’s Choice
1st Place Concept Sustainable

Research:

When examining my case studies, I focused on how design has crafted the culture of brand, community, and sport. They juggle practicality and style of products to resonate with the lifestyle and rituals of their customers.

These brands establish the trends that set the stage for the future of the industry.

Research Experiment:
50 Miles of Fuel

I wanted to live the most extreme use case of Gu’s products to understand the potential value it could have to the average customer on the retail shelf.
I took on the training of a professional ultrarunner (10 hours a week) and raced in a 50-mile ultramarathon.

I conducted interviews on trail, examined sport fashion, culture, and kept logs of my mental and physical health.

Audience

GU Energy Labs fuels athletes who embrace challenges with strategy and grit, finding joy in their achievements and community without taking themselves too seriously.

They stand out with an athlete-off-duty style, believing high performance and great style go hand in hand.

The Logo

Gu Products are designed to be consumed on a schedule before, during, and after exercise. The logomark has been designed with this same spirit of time in mind.

This logo takes on several different forms throughout the packaging system.

Logo as a functional carabiner designed compatible with the energy gel

The logo also represents the form of the dissolvable electrolyte tablets

Endurance nutrition,
with a twist

The packaging has a physical and metaphorical twist. This breaks the rigid cube form and that represents the flexibility and mobility of a healthy body in motion.

I started designing for the graphic application by collaging with materials, textures, and color swatches.

I then began to build compositions inspired by the collages in black/white/grey to focus on building contrast in the composition first.

I then identified the color palette based off of the contrast needs for the primary display panel.

Colors for the on-the go products are bold and solid with simple type. This streamlines the process an athlete goes through when retrieving these products while exercising.

The energy gel has a littler leash built into the packaging to prevent tear-offs from falling to the floor and polluting the environment

Infographics with specific use instructions, dosage, and purpose, for each product are explained with simplicity.

The Take-Away

I learned every skill needed to develop a fully customized packaging system. Throughout the project, I learned SolidWorks and created functional 3D prototypes with complete opening and closing mechanics.

I also experimented with several materials for the first time; 3D printing, chromatech transfers, and art direction for professional photography to bring the design to life.