TUX Creative House makes Sunski’s SPF a daily invitation to get outside

Since 2012, Sunski has made lightweight, sustainable sunglasses for people who live their lives outdoors. To carry that outlook into a second category, the brand turned to Los Angeles-based creative agency TUX Creative House, asking it to grow Sunski from a sunglasses company into a broader sun-protection brand and to launch its first SPF line. The work covered the full journey, from brand strategy and positioning through product strategy and visual identity to packaging and the go-to-market platform for the launch. Sunski’s community is outside in the sun more than most, yet the sunscreen made for them has barely moved on in years. Co-founder Tom Stewart is blunt about the options. On one side, “thick ghost paste that only makes sense for a tropical surf trip,” on the other, “mass-market, greasy lotions that smell like artificial flavours from a cocktail mix.” So rather than working back from what Sunski could manufacture, the founders started from a moment in their customers’ day. “We started with the point we wanted to own,” Stewart explains. “For us, that is the moment we step out of the indoors and into the light.” SPF, sitting across the line between eye and skin protection, was the product that could own it. From there, TUX made daily sun protection a reason to spend more time outside. The launch turns on a contradiction the founders felt keenly. We are wired for nature but now live in front of screens, on track to spend 14 years of our lives looking at a phone. Set against that, sunscreen becomes a small daily reason to step out, and sunglasses and SPF are positioned together as a ‘Daily Nature Kit’ – two things designed to be reached for on the way out of the door. “The sunscreen category is crowded with familiar visual cues and messages, so our challenge was to find a perspective that felt true to Sunski,” explains Stacy Gagnidze, Strategy Director at TUX Creative House. “We uncovered a brand built around adventure and a genuine love of being outdoors. We wanted Sunski SPF to feel less like a product people have to use and more like an invitation to get outside.”