Featured image for Pentagram-Designed Dally Inspires Taking A Handwashing Break

Pentagram-Designed Dally Inspires Taking A Handwashing Break

by Rudy Sanchez on 10/28/2020 | 2 Minute Read

Coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines have put the brakes on a lot of businesses like the entertainment and hospitality industries. For others, the shuttering of schools and offices have created an even more stressful paradigm, having many fondly recalling the hectic, pre-pandemic life.

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Another consequence of COVID is the increased awareness of the importance of washing your damn hands. One of the ways to minimize contraction and the spread of the coronavirus, according to the CDC, is frequent handwashing. Not that it wasn’t, you know, kind of important for general hygiene before, but getting into the habit of washing one’s paws after touching stuff that might carry germs has become acutely more prominent. As such, the soap dispenser is having a moment in the spotlight (take that toilet paper!) during this pandemic. 

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Editorial photograph

It is in these soap-as-our-defender times that brand Dally launches. The brand, founded by NYC-based couple Kevin Egan, a 15-year creative veteran, and marketing executive Elizabeth Walton Egan, focuses on making handwashing a brief and pleasant respite. Think dilly-dallying—its namesake—and how sometimes we need to shift ourselves into a lower gear for a moment of pause.

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In that spirit, the packaging for Dally is also elevated from its typically pragmatic packaging to counter decor, enlisting agency Pentagram to brand and design the visual identity and packaging for the hand-soap start-up.

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The wordmark is playful, with contrasting, loopy lowercase Ls, a break in style that's analogous to the light moments in the day that Dally beckons us to. The circular clock-like word arrangement on the side calls back to Dally’s mission of slowing down for a moment while at the hand sink. Each scent’s name is lazily blown across the front of the packaging, staying strongly on-theme. The white cube does a great job of blending in practically any environment one would find handwash in the home.

Editorial photograph
Editorial photograph

Made in small batches, each scent comes from all-natural oils, ranging from the crisp Rolling Wave After Rolling Wave After Rolling Wave (you’ll need a break after that mouthful), citrusy and floral Naps in the Grove, and the wildflower and grass-inspired Barefoot in the Grass. All soaps are now available directly from dallygoods.com.