Opening Lines
Design is an extremely important aspect of packaging. The colors, shapes, and textures chosen for a package all help to convey a certain image for a product. The designs for many recently launched packages might not have been possible to achieve ten years ago. However, suppliers are helping package designers make their creative visions reality by innovating decorating techniques and materials.
Silver Rain, the new fragrance by La Prairie (shown on our cover), is uniquely designed in the shape of a raindrop. It exemplifies a design that challenged suppliers technically. Metallization was used to decorate Silver Rain's glass flacon. This process can be difficult to perform on glass, since the glass must be molded perfectly in order to avoid any issues in the decorating process, according to Xavier Adnet, president, sales and marketing, for Bormioli Rocco USA. He explains, "In the past, metallization technology was used only for limited editions, but today we have clients using it for entire launches." Silver Rain is one new launch that could end up raising the standards for the entire industry. It will undoubtedly inspire further innovation in the future.
Eastman Chemical often promotes its belief that innovation begins with materials—and that it is these materials that inspire new package designs. The company recently held a reception for the launch of its new samples called Pebbles, molded from Tenite cellulosics, a natural polymer derived from wood pulp. This material has the ability to encapsulate fragrance. As Gaylon White, Eastman's manager of design industry programs, spoke to guests, he passed around the many different stone-shaped samples. With each sniff of roses, pina colada, and chocolate, it was interesting to see how quickly my mind was transported to another place, like a garden or a day at the beach. If this material were used to create scented packages, a strong emotional connection might be created just as quickly between your product and the consumer—which is one of the most important goals of package design. We've included more details about Eastman's new product in our Business Beat section.
It is exciting to consider the possibility of fragrance becoming a new aspect of package design. While trying to brainstorm about how a scented material could be used in packaging, we thought about our Inside Design column, written by managing editor Jennifer Kwok. It features the latest types of packaging for nail polish. Imagine if Eastman's material could be used to allow consumers to "smell" a color?
In the future, I'm sure we'll continue to see more development of decorating processes and materials. These will continue to inspire new, more advanced designs for packaging. Manufacturers, designers, and suppliers will continue to collaborate to launch innovative packages, and we'll keep reporting them to you.
Marie Redding
Senior Editor