This is Not Your Ordinary Candle. (But it should be).

We partner with startups and innovation-driven companies like JORD Innovation to help ideas that shape a better future come to life.

JORD leverages a new fiber-based and fireproof material to redefine and shift to sustainable candle design in a $6B global candle market. We helped create NOYO Not Your Ordinary Candle from strategic concept and category logic to shelf-ready packaging.

The brand wasn’t designed to blend in. It was designed to take space. Premium and confident to instigate a change of choice at the shelf. Engineered to pay respect to that better choice in every aspect. Because premium isn’t just about looking good — it’s being good. NOYO was made to be understood in seconds, chosen instinctively, and become your new go-to at first try.

Selling out within a week of restock, NOYO is off to a great start. We look forward to continuing to challenge the traditional tea light industry together with JORD Innovation and NOYO.

Jump to the facts

  • TBD helped JORD Innovation turn a material breakthrough into a new premium candle category with shelf-first strategy and hands-on prototyping and brand.

  • Brand, packaging, storytelling, and investor-facing materials built to claim space, communicate value, and shift consumer behavior.

  • Repeated sell-outs within a week of restock, media coverage, and validation of a sustainable alternative at scale. This only the beginning.

Fiberbased - Not Your Ordinary Candles each labeled 'NOYO', displayed on a white surface. The boxes are light greyish blue with black and white text and circular designs. Brand designed by To Be Designed TBD Studios Stockholm Uppsala.
Close-up of NOYO a fiber based candle light, box with smooth pattern. Design by TBD Studios Stockholm Uppsala.
Three stacked boxes of NOYO Not Your Ordinary Candles product on white background. Designed by TBD Studios Stockholm Uppsala.

Case Facts

The Challenge: Launching a better product in a “cheap“ category

NOYO and JORD Innovation weren’t just entering the candle market. They were creating a new, sustainable candle category in a low margin, well established industry. JORDs engineers had done their part by developing the materials and processes that allowed the aluminum cup to be replaced with their fiber based cup at no extra cost or investment needed. The challenge that remained was to prove them in the market. We knew we needed a brand that could claim shelf space, communicate positive confidence, convert attention into purchase and convert purchase into new behaviors.

TBD partnered with JORD Innovation to turn strategy into action — shaping the business narrative, storytelling, and commercial applications to ensure the brand delivered fully on its purpose.

Prototype and Shelf-First strategy

Instead of over-defining the brand on paper or in renderings, we designed through rapid prototyping. Names, labels, packaging formats and colors were tested, and design decisions were made through customer dialogue and hands on experience with t.

Key Data & Proof Points

Tealights made from 100% renewable rapeseed wax in fully recyclable fiber cups, reducing lifecycle waste by ~70% compared to aluminum alternatives and cutting production energy use by an estimated 50% per unit.

Safety & Compliance: PFAS-free coatings, tested to meet highest safety standards, ensuring stability and flame safety.

Market Impact: NOYO sells out within a week of shelf restocking, validating the shelf-first, category-creating strategy.

Category Disruption: Introduced a premium, sustainable candle alternative that sets new benchmarks for design and retail presence.

Partnering Beyond the products

TBD supports JORD Innovation in their quest to provide sustainable choices for consumers. We provide a strategic and creative sounding board, brand and packaging development through prototypes and design and the muscles to launch new products and shift markets. By acting as an extended design team and strategic support, we provide everything from future visions, investor decks, narratives and storytelling, visual identity, packaging systems, labelling, and compliance-ready production to ensure innovations are both tangible and commercially successful.

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Innovative design drawing on paper with measurement annotations, a small partially visible wooden block, and a white block with black lines, all on a white surface.
Two prototypes to a new innovation, fiberbased candles, 'NOT YOUR ORDINARY CANDLES,' mentioning renewable sources and Swedish innovation. Designed by TBD Studios Stockholm Uppsala.
Two small fiber based candle prototypes, one lying on its side and the other standing upright, with red scribbles overlaying part of the image. JORD Innovation, design suport by To Be Designed.
Multiple boxes of NOYO candles, primarily matte blue grey in color with black and white text, arranged on a surface. Designed by TBD Studios Stockholm Uppsala. To Be Designed.
Six fiber candle boxes with black ext, arranged in two rows of three, reading "Not your ordinary candles" with the number 15 at the top of each. Designed by TBD Studios Stockholm Uppsala. To Be Designed.
Three stacked boxes with gray and black packaging, labeled 'NOYO', and the text 'Responsibly No Aluminum No Plastic'. Designed by TBD Studios Stockholm Uppsala. To Be Designed.

  • TBD partners with startups and innovation-driven companies (like JORD Innovation) to turn advanced ideas into simple, market-ready actions.

    We work across strategy, brand, design and commercialization — shaping propositions that are understood quickly, chosen instinctively, and perform commercially at the shelf and in market.

    Beyond products and packaging, we act as a strategic sounding board — helping founders sharpen decisions, challenge assumptions, and push ideas in the right direction at the right time. From investor decks and narratives to category logic, prototypes and launch execution, we help ensure innovation is not only credible — but investable, understandable and ready to scale.

  • TBD partnered with JORD Innovation to turn material innovation to shelf ready. We created NOYO from the ground up — from idea and category logic to physical prototypes and shelf-ready design. Using a shelf-first, rapid prototyping approach, we shaped the brand for instant recognition, bold presence, and premium positioning in a “cheap“ category.

    NOYO demonstrates the power of TBD’s process: it typically sells out within a week of restock, proving the category-creating strategy works.

  • Rather than over-defining concepts on paper, we test ideas in real-world contexts. For NOYO, names, labels, packaging formats, and colors were prototyped and iterated in retail scenarios, allowing rapid learning, market validation, and confidence in strategic choices. This approach helps founders see what a product can become before it fully exists, and guides investor conversations, pitch decks, and market launches.

  • TBD helps translate breakthrough materials into tangible products. With NOYO, we worked with JORD Innovation’s new fiber-based, fireproof material to create sustainable candles that meet premium lifestyle expectations. Material innovation isn’t just technical — it’s part of the brand story, consumer experience, and market positioning.

  • TBD provides end-to-end design and strategic support. We help startups define category logic, visual identity, packaging systems, labeling, compliance-ready production, and business storytelling. By acting as an extended design and innovation team - we enable companies to launch successfully, capture market attention, and scale premium experiences.

NOYO In depth case FAQ