Web & Digital · Print & Packaging · Branding
Barrel uses Midjourney and Figma Weave to make product and ingredient imagery for Waterloo Sparkling Water's redesigned website
An agency generates flavour-by-flavour product and fruit imagery for a CPG client's site, then fixes label details by hand in Photoshop.
Done withFWFigma WeaveMMidjourneyFFigmaAPAdobe Photoshop
Agency's own write-up of client work (self-promotion); no designer named, no figures given
WHAT THEY DID
Barrel, redesigning Waterloo Sparkling Water's Shopify site for its packaging relaunch, set an on-brand style first, then built product imagery in Figma Weave and floating-fruit compositions in Midjourney, unified with a preset filter in Figma's AI tools.
STEP BY STEP
- Three concepts explored for typography, colour and photography art direction; Waterloo picked one.
- On-brand style defined, then iterated per flavour palette and ingredient cues.
- Product imagery built in Figma Weave as a repeatable structure across the lineup.
- Floating-fruit compositions generated in Midjourney; a preset filter in Figma's AI tools unified grain and saturation.
- A Barrel designer refined nearly every image in Photoshop, with close editing of packaging labels.
HOW IT WENT
Barrel says the workflow produced product and ingredient imagery for every flavour in the lineup, alongside a new photoshoot. Nearly every image still needed Photoshop fixes, and packaging labels needed close editing.
Reported results: A repeatable product-image structure for the full flavour lineup, and one grain-and-saturation look across the floating-fruit images, by Barrel's account.
WORTH KNOWING
A named client project that is specific about which AI tool did which job and about the main risk: AI quietly altering packaging label details. It is the agency's own promotional post: no designer is named, no time, cost or image counts are given, and it does not say which site images are AI-made.
TRY IT
- Lock the art direction and colour per product before generating any image.
- Build one repeatable template per product type, then swap the flavour cues.
- Check every generated pack shot against the approved label artwork before it ships.
Rates the entry, not the tool.
Source: Barrel · Barrel (barrelny.com)Open as a page
- Work done: not stated in the source (Waterloo's release dates the new site to Aug 2026; when the imagery was made isn't given.)
- Source published: Oct 27, 2026
- On 4TC: added Oct 31, 2026 · checked Oct 31, 2026
About this source
Type: Agency example · Firsthand report · Company claim
- Using AI-Rendered Content to Scale Ingredient Storytelling for Waterloo
Barrel · Barrel (barrelny.com) · Published Oct 27, 2026 (Visible 'Posted on October 27, 2026'; no author named.) · Checked Oct 31, 2026
Agency's own blog post about its client work; self-promotional ('let's talk'). No sponsorship by tool vendors disclosed.
Access: open - Bringing Waterloo's Full-Flavor Identity to Its Online Experience
Barrel · Barrel (barrelny.com) · Publication date not stated (Case study page is undated.) · Checked Oct 31, 2026
Agency's own case study page for the same project.
Access: open - Waterloo Sparkling Water Announces New Packaging Amid Strong Business Results
Waterloo Sparkling Water · PR Newswire · Published Aug 17, 2026 (Press release, 17 Aug 2026.) · Checked Oct 31, 2026
Client's own press release (independent of Barrel); dates the new website.
Access: open
Source check: Reviewed by a 4TC editor on Oct 31, 2026. Claims, quotes and dates re-checked against the sources by Ella on 31 Oct 2026. Nobody at 4TC has tested this.
Claims and where they come from
- Barrel partnered with Waterloo 'to redesign drinkwaterloo.com on Shopify' as the brand prepared for a packaging relaunch. (reported) [1][2]
- 'Waterloo's new photoshoot captured the people and lifestyle moments. To complement those assets, we built an artificial intelligence (AI) content workflow to generate the product and ingredient imagery'. (reported) [1]
- 'Product imagery came together in Figma Weave, giving us a repeatable structure to apply across the full flavor lineup.' (reported) [1]
- For the floating fruit imagery, 'we generated fruit compositions using carefully selected fruit cues in Midjourney, then built a preset filter in Figma's native AI tools, tuning grain and color saturation'. (reported) [1]
- Left alone, AI 'would make changes humans wouldn't, like subtly altering packaging label details'. (reported) [1]
- 'Nearly every AI-generated image needed small refinements in Photoshop based on specific feedback, and packaging labels in particular required careful, close editing'. (reported) [1]
- Waterloo says that, as an extension of its packaging evolution, it 'launched a new website'. (according to the company) [3]
4TC interpretation
Our reading, not something the source says.
Packaging and CPG designers are being asked to scale product imagery with AI. This shows the guardrails one agency used on a real brand: style defined first, a repeatable template and a designer checking every label.
Designer impact
Established [1]
Generative tools can subtly alter packaging label details.
- Check every generated pack shot against the approved label artwork.
- Budget Photoshop retouching time for nearly every image.
Established = documented by primary sources or the company’s own statements. Disputed = contested with evidence on both sides. Alleged = reported, not established.
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