International Package Design Awards
The winners and finalists in HBA's 2001 competition represent a wide range of marketing strategies that help packaging promote products to a diverse marketplace.
Manufacturers and suppliers entered more than 70 packaging designs in the 2001 International Package Design Awards program (now in its second year). The competition recognizes excellence in packaging design that contributes to product success in the cosmetic, fragrance, and personal care marketplace.
This year's committee of 100 industry professionals judged entries in the following six categories: limited skin care; mass skin care; limited fragrance; mass fragrance; cosmetics; and personal care. When all the votes were tallied, the pool of submissions was narrowed to twenty finalists. And from this group of twenty finalists (profiled in this section), six winners were selected, one for each category, at a reception held February 20 at the New York Hilton. These six category winners will compete for the grand prize, to be presented on June 12, the opening day of HBA Global Expo 2001 (see page 80 in this issue for show details). All twenty packages will be displayed in a special pavilion on the show floor. The category winners will also discuss their winning packaging designs in a roundtable, "The IPDA Winners Tell How They Did It," on June 13.
See a preview of these twenty packages, which range from a racecar-style bottle for bath-and-body bubbles to an Asian-influenced teardrop for a floral fragrance. These designs exemplify the wide range of creative responses to today's marketing concerns, and each package is certainly a winner in its own right.
CATEGORY WINNERS
Limited Distribution Skin Care:
English Ideas
Ask English Ideas founder Rebecca Pflueger what the idea is behind her entire line of cosmetic solutions, and she'll likely tell you that it's technology. "I started English Ideas because I believed cosmetics needed to go beyond makeup artistry and toward science," says Pflueger. "As an engineer, I am committed to developing products that are innovative and creative."
Packaging for the English Ideas skin-care line reinforces this high-tech concept. The primary container and matching cap, designed by Pflueger and manufactured by American Kanox Corp., come together to form a triangular-shaped, five-sided package. The container and cap are clear Lucite, to show off the color and texture of such formulations as Uplifting Skin- Firming Serum, I Do It All Multi-Function Toner, and Clean Matters Advanced Gel Cleanser.
The clear box in the same shape as the cap and primary container was supplied by Packaging Spectrum. American Kanox supplied the liner.
The design is more than just aesthetically pleasing, as Pflueger points out. The packaging was created "to give men and women a package that will save space, be easy to use, and be environmentally friendly," says Pflueger. But achieving the latter was a bit of a challenge, she says, because the "Go-Go Portables (the inner tube that contains the product and is refillable) had to be made flexible enough to still fit into the base unit after being refilled." The tube and the clear Lucite were supplied by American Kanox, the pump by Pfeiffer of America.
Precision Offset supplied the insert card, which offers the consumer ingredient information and instructions for use. Polycraft Label was charged with silk-screening the primary container. Golden West Packaging supplied the flip-caps and silver-metallized caps.
Mass Distribution Skin Care:
Artistry Time Defiance by Access Business Group
Skin isn't the only thing Time Defiance rejuvenates. When Access Business Group (Ada, MI) added the skin cream to its Artistry line of skin care and cosmetics products, the product helped define a new look for the entire product line. The company was already in the midst of revising the graphics of the Artistry line, and when an internal team of creative, marketing, and package engineering professionals devised a package for Time Defiance using rounded angles and matte textures, the soft and feminine look became the standard for the entire line.
Design elements key to creating the clean, elegant package were a rounded jar and a very-low-profile domed metal closure, says Jane Ashby, one of Access's packaging engineers. "The Time Defiance products needed to not only fit within the line, but project the image of a highly effective, premium product," she explains. All packages in the line use champagne gold coloring along with a gold three-ring design element, which was inherited from the original Artistry line.
A second color was needed to differentiate the Day Crème from the Night Crème products, so dove gray coloring with a matte texture was chosen to complement the two gold tones.
Time Defiance's packaging blends numerous materials and decorating processes, supplied by vendors from around the world. The package engineering department worked very closely with Hidan Ltd. to develop the closure. "The biggest design challenge was to keep the large-diameter dome as flat as possible," she explains. "This required a three-piece closure and a short, small neck finish on the jar." The closure is composed of an inner plastic component and two metal pieces in different colors for the dome and rings. The different metal textures were produced through a combination of anodizing, sand blasting, and coating with an ultraviolet (UV) light-curable spray. For the Night Lotion, Ashby and her team chose a stock pump from Yoshino and added a custom metal collar.
For the containers, they chose frosted opal glass and worked closely with supplier Saint-Gobain Desjonqueres to develop the shape of the jar and bottle. "The gold decoration of the jar picks up the champagne gold and adds to the rich feel of the package," says Ashby.
Folding cartons for the Artistry line were developed by George Gaskey Design and are printed internally. The vignette and satin-like UV light-curable coating are common to the skin care line, but the carton was enhanced for Time Defiance by using a metallic ink in the vignette and by hot-stamping the logo. According to the competition judges, the graphics of the carton were a deciding factor in Artistry's award recognition.
Limited Distribution Fragrance:
Shi Alfred Sung
Gaze into the drop of water that is Shi Alfred Sung, and see a reflection of the designer himself.
"Shi Alfred Sung is a direct reflection of Alfred Sung's personal journey, where inner balance has been achieved," says Pamela Kennedy, public relations and promotions manager for Riviera Concepts Inc. (Don Mills, ON, Canada), the marketer and manufacturer of the brand.
Sung communicates his own sense of calm and well being through the fragrance bottle and its secondary packaging.
A drop of water and the principles of the ancient Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui are the basis for the fragrance bottle, which Sung designed together with bottle designer Jerome Dinand. "Water, the element of rest and concentration, is one of the five elements of nature that create and balance the earth's energy," says Kennedy. (Earth, wood, fire, and metal are the other four elements.) How these elements balance each other, creating a constant movement of harmonious energy in the world, was Sung's inspiration for the product and its packaging, she says.
The smooth, rounded glass bottle, which contains a floral scent, is tinted with a light hue of blue to create the appearance of water. Pochet of America (Fort Wayne, NJ) supplied the bottle. The fragrance's signature notes include water lily, fig leaves, orange blossom, frangipani, water musks, and silver birch.
The elements of wood (representing growth) and metal (symbolizing reflection) also figure prominently in the design. A piece of solid, dark wood serves as a pedestal for the bottle. Metal is the material for the cap, which bears the Chinese symbol for water and was supplied by Bonnay Cosmetics.
"Producing the cap was the biggest challenge in manufacturing the package," says Andrea Gerson, director of new product development for Riviera Concepts. Trying to achieve both a narrowing of the neck to such a fine point and a flattened, embossed top was a challenge. "The difficulty," says Gerson, "was in finding a manufacturing process that would allow the cap to be produced in one piece and still maintain the integrity and shape of the design. The goal was to [achieve] the characteristics of a handcrafted piece, not a mass-produced look that's too perfect." The overall weight and varying thickness of the metal casting from top to bottom were also obstacles to be overcome to meet expectations of quality for the design, Gerson says.
The carton for Shi Alfred Sung, supplied by Bellshire Ltd. (Toronto, Canada), underscores the concept of balance and harmony, with its soothing tones of watery aqua and deep brown, and accents of silver. The top panel of each carton is adorned with the Chinese symbol for water, matching the symbol on the cap and further unifying the packaging and product line.
Several other companies contributed to the winning design. They are Valois of America (valve supplier), USS Corp. (decorator), and the design firm of Arketip Design.
Mass Distribution Fragrance:
Barbie Bath Products by Mattel Inc.
Enlisted by Mattel Inc. to package the new Barbie line of bath and body products, Cosrich Group Inc. (Bloomfield, NJ) took a chance and tried a clear, flexible pouch-and may just have succeeded in elevating the status of the flexible pouch for fragrances and personal care products. "It is the first time that a clear flexible pouch has been offered in the U.S. mass market," explains Debbie Baker, vice president of marketing for Cosrich. "Focus groups have shown that girls ranging in age from 3 to 12 years all love the package."
Competition judges agreed that Mattel took a risk, because they felt that consumers tend to associate pouches with low-quality mass market items such as product refills. "To date, no cosmetic company has overcome this prejudice. Cosrich could be the first to break through because the Barbie Bath pouches are so well decorated and manufactured," said one judge.
The pouches, manufactured by Kapak Corp., are printed with brightly colored flowers, and all bear Barbie's cursive pink signature. "The packaging capitalized on the fact that cosmetic sell-through is directly linked to the percentage of pink in the package," says Baker. "We wanted to convey fashion, color, and innovation-the key things that the Barbie brand is known for."
The judges also felt that the plastic bracelet, which serves as a handle, added to the package's appeal. "We took the pouch a step further and turned what was initially a unique handle concept into a removable, collectable charm bracelet," Baker explains. "All bath and cosmetic products feature clear, soft plastic charms that can be added to the removable bracelet/handle, and the color palette is totally on trend."
To make the product appealing to older girls, who usually like to shower instead of bathe, Cosrich added a suction cup to the body wash product, enabling the package to adhere to shower walls. In addition, the package resists breaks and is easy to manage for girls of all ages.
The pouch is also appealing from an environmental standpoint. "When empty, it is a flat piece of plastic, so it is easy on landfills," says Baker.
The first concept of the line was discovered by Cynthia Rapp in Italy. Together with Mattel's in-house creative team, Laura Handler developed the initial designs for the bath line. The New York design firm Memo Productions developed the graphic style guide for the line.
The spout for the pouch is supplied by Menshen Packaging USA. Charms are manufactured by John Ariwi in Hong Kong. Pouch filling is performed by ANC in Minnesota.
Cosmetics:
Unmakeup by Prescriptives
It would be a contradiction to package Unmakeup, a new light foundation from Prescriptives, in a heavyweight package. Lighter than other foundations in the Prescriptives line, Unmakeup needed to appeal to young women who do not need heavy foundation, yet still convey the same image of the established Prescriptives line.
Breaking tradition, Prescriptives design director Dennis Decker and his in-house team chose to deviate from the traditional glass bottle used for the line's other products and instead chose a squeezable plastic container. Supplied by Laffon, the new bottle was blow-molded in an elliptical shape, which Decker says "denotes a younger, more portable sensibility."
When choosing the dispensing mechanism for the bottle, Decker needed to keep costs down. He originally chose a rocker cap, "but cost directed us toward the more conventional cap version," he explains. Injection molded by L.I.R. USA, the cap is designed with a set-width stripe. It added to the simple, translucent design of the package, which "conveyed a fresh and interesting shape and attitude," he adds.
Other suppliers contributing to the design were Bopak N.V. Labels and Arkay, which provided the secondary packaging. Package design is credited to Prescriptives's in-house team, which included Decker; James Gager, senior vice president and creative director; and designers Von Robinson and Michael Gordon.
Personal Care:
Actibrush Bzzz by Colgate-Palmolive
Because Colgate-Palmolive wanted to put its new battery-operated toothbrush in the hands of tweens (youths who are no longer children but not quite teenagers), it needed to devise a playful but not childish look, and turned to the Internet and trade associations for help. The result was Actibrush Bzzz, which bears colors and images attractive to tweens, and a package that showcases and protects the product.
To find the right images, Veronica Gagliardi, senior design project manager, and her design team created a wide range of designs based on current trends in the tween market. The designs were tested among tweens in the United Kingdom and the United States. "Following some design optimizations, a more-limited range of designs was tested quantitatively among U.K. and U.S. tweens, using the Internet as the research vehicle," says Gerwin Janssen, marketing manager.
"Based on the quantitative research, which showed similar preferences in the United Kingdom and the United States, four final designs were chosen-two targeted to boys and two to girls."
These final design images were as follows: flowers, based on the resurgence of the '60s style; a surfer with shark, which echoes the popularity of extreme sports along with the associated real or imagined danger; an alien, which picks up on the fascination with TV shows such as "The X-Files" and communicates the notion that "They're Here;" and a beach scene, which depicts an exotic and tranquil setting. These images were transferred to hot foil decals by China Now (KKS) Ltd. and affixed to the contoured handles of the Actibrushes by Chiaphua Industries Ltd., which manufactures the product under a license from Colgate-Palmolive.
When packaging the Actibrush Bzzz, Colgate-Palmolive needed to highlight these images and colors, so Joe Fattori, associate director of technology, manufacturing engineering technology, chose a clear PVC tube from Kintai Blister Industry Company, Ltd.
"The clear tube is a fun, durable package, which shows the toothbrush and its attributes to the consumer," Gagliardi says.
While displaying the toothbrush was a priority, so was protecting it. "Preventing the consumer from turning the unit on while still in the package required that a separate package component be developed and tested," Fattori explains. Another separate component was needed to prevent the protective cover for the brush head from falling off the head if the product was dropped.
Another challenge was to ensure that the literature leaflet, which was supplied by Orient Sun Printing Products Company, Ltd., did not bond to the bottom end cap. "We needed to control the amount of adhesive applied to the end cap to adequately seal the package on-line but not the leaflet," says Fattori.
Colgate-Palmolive's in-house design team created the decal designs, along with Graphic Avenues, an outside design firm.
CATEGORY FINALISTS
Limited Distribution Skin Care:
Anthony Logistics Hand & Body Lotion by Anthony Logistics for Men
When Anthony Sosnick decided that men wanted a line of skin, bath, and body-care products of their own-that they ought not to have to "borrow" personal care products from the women in their lives-he founded Anthony Logistics for Men. Products in the line are fragrance free, practically packaged, and supplied with user-friendly directions. How can men pamper their skin while retaining a masculine self-image? The right choice of package and labeling helps.
Anthony Logistics for Men Glycerin Hand & Body Lotion comes in a tube because focus groups reveal that men like tubes. They're practical. Designer Frankfurt Balkind, New York, NY, produced a package that is straightforward, masculine, and deliberately somewhat clinical looking. It conveys the message that this is a product that works-that it will confer a beneficial effect on the consumer's body.
Men are more pragmatic, more utilitarian than women. They are also less willing to put up with complicated packaging and labeling. The packaging for this hand and body lotion is clean and simple, with a firm masculine feel; its aim is to emphasize utility more than style or fashion. Wording on the box mixes a light approach ("Objective: Get your skin working like it's supposed to.") with a basic presentation of no-nonsense information about ingredients and their functions. Throughout, the package displays the direct approach and clinical edge the manufacturer felt would capture the men's skin-care market.
The tube is supplied by Lerman Containers. Seaquest Caps provides its cap. The secondary packaging is contributed by Ares Printing and Power Packaging.
Thibiant Beverly Hills by Thibiant International
What the Thibiant Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills, CA) line offers women, with its packaged cleansers, moisturizers, toners, serums, night creams, treatment masks, and eye-revitalizing products, might be thought of as a skin-care spa. The packaging reflects the manufacturer's characterization of its customer base as a generation that prizes directness and simplicity and that can appreciate the personal benefits to be gained from advances in personal care science while admiring sophisticated design.
The primary packaging for the Thibiant Beverly Hills line was designed by Dieter Bakic Design. Rich colors, aesthetically and ergonomically pleasing shapes, and jeweled caps serve to reinforce the pleasure of each day's beauty ritual. Judith Ann Blair of Thibiant International Inc. collaborated with Alex Miteko of Dieter Bakic in creating the secondary packaging. Each product's package includes an easy-to-interpret texture symbol.
Signifying the degree of product thickness, it guides user selection for the creation of a personalized skin-care regimen. The complexity of the secondary packaging is designed to complement the simple elegance of the primary containers.
The design presented some challenges in the execution. Silk-screening graphics onto the fronts of the tottles required two passes because of the containers' complex curves. The difficulty to be overcome on the secondary packaging was determining a formulation of ink that would dry quickly on the silver foilboard. To achieve the reflective highlights desired on the outer packaging involved starting with a complex pattern printed on the metallic foil, applying a matte laminate, and then putting the board back on press for a spot gloss varnish.
Thibiant International Inc. manufactures the line of products. Dieter Bakic Design supplies the containers and caps. The secondary packaging and the box liner are provided by 5 Oaks Creative Development & Design. Package decorations are the work of Artisan Screen Printing.
Mass Distribution Skin Care:
Olay Total Effects by Procter & Gamble
A dispenser system equipped with a next-generation valve designed for maximum dispensing convenience attracted the attention of Procter & Gamble when the company was looking for a source of packaging for its Olay Total Effects facial moisturizer. The moisturizer is marketed as a formulation that, in combating the effects of aging on the skin, can defeat them all-fine lines and wrinkles, surface dullness, age spots, dryness, everything that time can dish out. The product package, designed by WIKO-USA (Exton, PA), in conjunction with Procter & Gamble, is also comprehensive in its capability. The total packaging system consists of a container, dispenser, overcap, and labeling and decoration.
The Magic F dispenser system was a WIKO stock article that appealed to Procter & Gamble because it displayed performance and aesthetic qualities the manufacturer believed would win the favor of consumers in the competitive personal-care market. The state-of-the-art Air New valve system, which ensures quick priming and consistent output, is a key element of the package.
WIKO reworked several system features to optimize the design for the Olay product requirements. Dispenser output per stroke was customized to deliver the most efficacious quantity of moisturizer for consumer convenience. Fill volumes were also modified to meet requirements of label claims.
The integrated dispenser and container package is manufactured for Procter & Gamble by RPC Bramlage-WIKO. The blister is supplied by Creative Forming, and the folding carton is supplied by Arkay Packaging.
Serum Végétal by Yves Rocher
With the postwar children of the baby boom now grappling with menopause, Yves Rocher (Exton, PA) made its major skin-care product launch of 2000 an antiaging line. A cleansing lotion, revitalizing toner, and refortifying day cream appear under the Serum Végétal de Shiitake brand name in sleek, classic bottles and jars designed by a Parisian agency, Valerie Bernard Design. The packaging uses a vibrant red color to express the idea of life and energy and suggest the revitalization awaiting the skin on which the products are used.
The design of the containers was inspired by today's cultural focus on personal well being and energy, and reflects attention to the needs of a maturing beauty market. The packaging tells the story of Serum Végétal: a product developed by a company with a reputation for botanical expertise, a treatment grounded in Eastern health traditions, with its basis in shiitake extract borrowed from Chinese medicine.
The glass droppers for the serum posed a manufacturing challenge. Their contents had to flow freely and completely when the dropper was squeezed, which called for precision in the provision of space within the tube. The foil logo was a technical achievement that helps to ensure an effective package presentation. Also noteworthy are the complimentary flat samples attached to the products that introduce customers to affiliated products in the line.
Bottles for the lotion and toner are supplied by M.O.B., and jars for the cream are manufactured by N.V.M (Nouvelles Verreries de Momignies). The lids with applicator spatulas are provided by Mayet. The label is supplied by Berson. Autajon produces the product boxes. Flat samples affixed to the packages are handled by Charmettes. All vendors supplying packaging components are French companies.
Limited Distribution Fragrance:
Chaleur D'Animale by Parlux Fragrances
The packaging for Parlux Fragrances' Chaleur D'Animale Men and Chaleur D'Animale Women artfully brings together the contrasting mediums of glass and metal with the added spice of simplicity and restraint.
Immediately apparent on the clear glass bottle is its unusual, platinum-colored shackle and chain, but the true art is in the detail. Each cylindrical-shaped, clear glass bottle features a thick concentration of glass molded around the lower portion of the bottle that is fitted with a cuff. Great care was taken to conceal the mechanical fit of the cuff, which is accented by black printing and decorated with a dangling metal chain.
Electroplated plastic overcaps featuring 360-degree decoration echo the cylindrical shape of the bottles they top and differentiate the male fragrance from its female counterpart. Chaleur D'Animale Men sports black and white leopard spots, while Chaleur D'Animale Women displays gold and white leopard spots.
Each fragrance is available in 30-, 50-, and 100-ml sizes. Both lines are sold in two-tone silver cylindrical cartons.
Designed by Ateliers Dinand (New York), the bottles are produced by Bormioli Luigi SPA (Parma, Italy). The electroplated plastic cuffs and caps and the chains for the cuffs are manufactured by NioB Ltd. (Berlin, CT). Collars, pumps, and actuators are from Emsar Inc. (Stratford, CT). Cartons are by Robinson Consumer Packaging (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada).
Kiss & Tell by Fragrance International Inc.
Kiss & Tell provides women with a sophisticated evening scent and a lighter daytime scent that can be worn separately or combined to create a signature fragrance. To accommodate the two-fragrance idea, a patented bottle-in-a-bottle was designed to hold both scents in one convenient package.
A dual-chamber bottle crafted of hand-blown glass was designed by Brad and Judy Levy of Fragrance International Inc. (Youngstown, OH) and Robert DuGrenier of Robert DuGrenier Associates Inc. (Townshend, VT). Because it had two necks, the bottle had to withstand crimping pressure as each neck was filled. Although soda lime glass had been the first choice for the bottle material, borosilicate glass was ultimately used for its strength.
Finding a suitable dispensing system was also a challenge. While most conventional fragrance bottles use a dip-tube, the two-chamber design of the bottle required a dispenser that would not interfere with the smaller chamber within the bottle. Valois of America (Greenwich, CT) supplied its patented reservoir pump, which eliminated the need for a dip-tube.
MJC Enterprises (New York City), the U.S. office for Dapy Paris International, provided the secondary packaging, which is a clear Lucite container that allows the customer to see the product clearly. The container is precisely fitted over the blue suede end cap on the bottom, providing a seamless fit.
The labels were provided by Paris Art Label (Ronkonkoma, NY); the bottle's cap was supplied by Dieter Bakic (München, Germany). Rapid Plastics (Baltimore) created the end-cap vacuum form, and Fuller Packaging (Central Falls, RI) supplied the end-cap flocking. The tassel was supplied by Fashion Ribbon Co. (Long Island City, NY).
Mass Distribution Fragrance:
Dream by Gap
Gap is probably best known for its denim hip-huggers and khakis, but over the years, the popular clothing retailer has successfully translated its distinctive fashion ideal into a flourishing portfolio of fragrances. Gap recently redesigned one of its most well-received fragrances using simple, understated packaging evocative of ethereal lightness and whimsical flights of fancy.
According to Roger Hackbush, Gap's director of packaging, the present Dream package is a custom-designed facelift intended to breathe new life into a popular brand image. "Dream used to be a stock-type package with a wider overall profile," he says, "but Gap took this redesign project to the next level by using a sleek, narrow glass bottle and a custom-tooled cap."
The bottle is translucent and frosted, allowing the light lavender-colored juice to show through. Emphasizing the advantages of simplicity, the bottle's decorative accents are limited. The front panel displays only cleanly silk-screened blue and white type to announce the product name and logo. Heavy-walled, translucent Surlyn caps mirror the look of the bottle and are designed to fit seamlessly upon closure and flush with the pump system.
Dream's bottles are manufactured by Pochet of America (Wayne, NJ). Caps are provided by Niob Ltd. (Berlin, CT). Pumps, actuators, and collars are furnished by Valois of America (Greenwich, CT).
Nature Millénaire by Yves Rocher
A mass-market fragrance line named for the turn of the millennium and launched in the United States by Yves Rocher (Exton, PA) in September 2000 features packaging that invites reflection on the past while beckoning toward an exciting future. Yves Rocher intended the package design for its Nature Millénaire eau de toilette for women and men to communicate the core value of the brand, which is its origin in nature. The products feature spicy, earthy, primordial scents-suggestions of the earth that gives life. Packaging motifs and colors are likewise designed to convey the primitive qualities of sensuality and authenticity.
Yves Rocher designers Alain Mourgue, Sylvie de France, and Federico Restrepo captured the elements of nature in their styling of the bottles, caps, and paper boxes. The women's 2-oz spray bottle takes the form of a primitive leaf. To realize this presentation involved overcoming difficulties in the lacquering and decorating of the bottle.
Two passes were necessary to give the bottle's cap the desired lacquered appearance. Another obstacle overcome was the grain in the paper of the Nature Millénaire Women box that made even printing and consistent ink and color absorption a challenge.
The 1.7-oz spray bottle for Nature Millénaire Men has a somewhat more conventional capped-bottle appearance, also featuring a leaf motif. The design challenge for the manufacturer of the men's bottle was to achieve an even distribution of hue within the flow of the glass.
The bottle for Nature Millénaire Women is supplied by Verreries de Masnières and its cap by M.B.F. The maker of the spray valve is Valois. Verreries Pochet provides the bottles for Nature Millénaire Men. NIOB supplies the caps. Boxes for both products are supplied by Allardi, and Yves Rocher Ploermel takes care of the labeling and decoration.
Cosmetics:
FlipTop Jar by Gibo Italia s.r.l.
The FlipTop Jar offers significant advantages not only to cosmetics companies, but also to their consumers. Designed, developed, and patented by Gibo Italia s.r.l. (Novate Milanese), the bicomponent jar is one piece produced with a single mold and a single injection molding machine, eliminating assembly costs and simplifying the filling process. Cosmetics firms can benefit from this, as well as from the supplier's ability to customize processing to suit specific needs.
One of the benefits of the packaging for consumers is product protection. The jar has a top that closes hermetically, potentially sealing out contaminants to the cosmetic product contained inside. The consumer flips open the top to use the product, then secures the lid back on the jar by pressing down.
"The product is unique and innovative in the market," says Pierfrancesco Bocola of Gibo. Creative color combinations are possible, Bocola says. Raw materials used in the jar are polypropylene and ETP (soft touch).
Age Defying Foundation by Revlon
There's a myth in cosmetics packaging, and that is that you cannot have a knockout package with stock components. Revlon has debunked that myth with the packaging for one of its latest products, Age Defying Foundation. Stock pump components are modified slightly to convey a classic look.
For the pump, Revlon chose a standard design from Valois of America (Greenwich, CT). According to Eric Vaxelaire, sales manager for Valois, the Evolution pump is designed for use with any type of cosmetic and is especially effective for dispensing such viscous formulations as foundation. To give the pump a unique look, Revlon asked Valois to create a custom gold hot-stamping. The round shape contrasts nicely with the square glass bottle and the plastic collar. Revlon was one of the first of Valois's U.S. clients to use the Evolution pump.
In addition to the pump, Revlon chose a glass bottle from Heinz Glass and a plastic collar from Lombardi Design.
Personal Care:
Collection by Sebastian International Inc.
Sebastian International (Woodland Hills, CA) set high standards for the packaging of Collection, the company's line of hair-care products designed to create different effects and textures on the hair. Products like Dry Clean Only, which refreshes hair without shampooing, and Spandex, a formulation designed to make hair stretch for sleek appeal, called for packaging that would match the products' sense of fashion and high style.
To accomplish this, Sebastian International assembled a design team of in-house packaging, marketing, and advertising professionals, and outside vendor partners. This collaborative effort resulted in an "innovative high-style design" for the hair-care line, according to Robert Galbraith, senior global director of packaging, advertising, and merchandising for Sebastian International.
"Sebastian is known for its insight into advanced design trending," says Galbraith.
Making Collection's advanced design a reality was a technical challenge that Sebastian's vendors were prepared to meet. Captive Plastics (Piscataway, NJ), for example, acquired a state-of-the-art blow-molding machine to create the 8.5-oz bottle, according to Jim Schellin, plant manager for the company's Redlands, California, facility.
The firm not only blow-molded the bottle, but also decorated it. "Silk-screening the tapered bottle with its two different radiuses was a technical challenge," says Schellin. "We developed special tooling to customize the decorating process."
Captive Plastics also injection molded the metallic-looking caps. "Our technical capability helped us control material and colorant to minimize flow lines," says Schellin.
Sebastian Collection also features one-liter bottles from Pretium with caps from Seaquist Perfect Dispensing (Cary, IL). CSI Inc. (Oxnard, CA) supplies the 4.4-oz injection-molded jar and cap. Polytainer (Simi Valley, CA) manufactures the 50-ml bottles. Exal (Youngstown, OH) produces the aluminum cans for the aerosols, which utilize valves and actuators from Precision. CCL Container Tube Division (Los Angeles) supplies the tubes.
Dumb Blonde by TIGI Linea
To create the streetwise image TIGI Linea wanted for its Dumb Blonde hair reconstructor, the company sought packaging with a bold and modern look. What resulted from the firm's efforts is a laminate tube with holographic-like effects, an overall design as attention-getting as the product's name.
CCL Container, a supplier of tubes and injection-molded closures, recommended a clear Ceramis laminate tube that provided a barrier to protect the product. Jay Defenbaugh, sales account manager for CCL Container Tube Division, says, "Using our five-layer structures, we were able to provide a barrier for the product and protect [its] scent, a feature that's critical [to the success of] personal care products like Dumb Blonde."
The tube was decorated with a full rainbow hot-stamp of silver foil, then enhanced with a holographic-like effect. "We unrolled the tube web stock and decorated it flat," says Defenbaugh. "This enabled us to apply the full-panel rainbow foil hot-stamp, then UV silk-screen the copy on top of it in-line in one pass."
Kyara Mascolo, TIGI Linea's vice president of marketing and product development, undertook designing graphics for the package. The crisp lettering stood out at the point of purchase, eliminating the need for an outer carton or other secondary packaging.
Dumb Blonde is part of TIGI Linea's Bed Head line. The product is marketed to high-profile salons throughout North, South, and Central America.
NASCAR Personal Care by Rovar Soap Company, Inc.
The NASCAR line of personal care products has crossed the finish line with a winning package designed and manufactured by Rovar Soap Company, Inc. (Los Angeles). Shampoo and bubble bath for young NASCAR fans comes in a plastic racecar-shaped container from C&M Plastics (Tempe, AZ) that doubles as a collectable toy. A shrink-sleeve label supplied by film converter Ameri-Seal Inc. (Chatsworth, CA) and featuring graphics by Greg Zimora Graphics (Los Angeles) forms tightly around the car's soft curves, creating a finished package for the fast track.
The packaging with its racecar motif stands not only to reap market success, but also to set new trends. "This product is more of a trendsetter than a trend-follower," says Howard Millstein, president of Ameri-Seal. "Although other bath products for children have printed PVC labels, they all have a common cylindrical shape.
The NASCAR [package] has a shape all its own, and we've seen nothing like it on the market before," Millstein says.
The primary container's unique shape makes accurate label placement extremely important. "The biggest challenge in manufacturing the label is distorting the graphics so that the printed wheels on the sleeve will land exactly where they're supposed to on the finished label," says Millstein. Ameri-Seal prints the sleeve rotogravure-style on a 6-color press using alcohol-based ink. The company achieves the precise print registration necessary for the detailed design using computer-etched cylinders.
Printed sleeves are shipped to Rovar Soap Company for placement on the primary container via two heat tunnels. The first tunnel heats the film; the second tunnel (at a higher temperature than the first) seals the film and removes any wrinkles.
The racecar packaging has really taken off, according to Millstein. "The products have been well received, and the possibility exists to launch more products like it later this year."
Venus by Gillette Co.
The concept for the Venus razor is "of something emerging from under water," says Wendy Church of design firm Wallace Church Inc. (New York City). To promote this image, the outer package was designed with fluid shapes, blue colors, and a translucent appearance.
Wallace Church Inc., including Paula Bunny, John Bruno, Lawrence Haggerty, and creative director Stan Church, together with The Gillette Co., worked to design a package that would be different from most razor packages. For instance, "choosing the color blue was unusual, because blue is usually not a color associated with females," according to Church.
The graphics' translucent quality was designed to be reminiscent of water. The vertical lines on the package project the image of water being splashed upward.
Diamond Packaging (Rochester, NY) was the printer for the project. The company used different types of hot-foil stamping on the cartridge packs to create an eye-catching look. To enhance the appearance of the razor card, Diamond Packaging used six different inks, printing them in-line on one side of the substrate. The logo and other design elements were stamped with specially formulated foils. The blister, supplied by Gillette Design and Engineering and Placon, was designed with an organic shape.