Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Fragrance
Daytona 500
by Elizabeth Arden
Daytona 500’s bottle design is clever and straightforward. To appeal to Daytona’s more than 75 million fans, the bottle was inspired by a Daytona 500 racecar. The challenge was to make sure the package felt authentic. “Women are the primary gift givers, so the bottle needed to appeal to them, but also be meaningful to the Daytona fan,” says Cheryl Mendelson, Elizabeth Arden’s design director. The result is a high-end package that immediately conjures images of the racetrack.
Risdon International crafted the complex cap. “As a company, we are most proud that this package combines the core technologies we feel we’re expert at—metal and finishing of metal, plastic molding, and assembly,” says Steve Pearlman, Risdon’s president.
The cap’s black rubber tire is actually thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) embossed with the Daytona 500 logo. The tire rim is made from red anodized aluminum. Two versions of the cap were created, one to accommodate a pump, and the other for a splash bottle. The pump cap has a hole in the middle, which allows the pump’s actuator to show through like a hub. The splash version is preassembled with a silver medallion in the center hole. Rexam Dispensing Systems supplied its The Crimpless System super-low-profile pump.
The cap’s inner is made from black polypropylene. Pearlman says that one of the biggest challenges was ensuring a tight fit between the cap’s inner piece and outer TPE piece. This way, the components stayed together when the cap was lifted off.
Risdon also supplied the bottle’s wide circular silver collar on which the cap sits. It is made from anodized aluminum. The cylindrical glass bottle is supplied by Saint-Gobain Desjonquères. Elizabeth Arden requested that the bottle feel heavyweight and substantial.
“They brought together a lot of materials and design elements to make this interesting,” says awards panelist Peter Hargraves, section head for Procter & Gamble global packaging and device development, cosmetics.
Cartondruck produced the secondary carton. Solid-bleached-sulfate paperboard was laminated with polyester foil. The sides of the carton were printed black and varnished matte to match the look of a black tire. “Matte coatings scuff, and our job during press proof was to achieve one that would not scuff,” says Cartondruck’s Dena Goldstein, senior account executive. She adds that a special additive in the matte varnish increased scuff-resistance.
The graphics, including the Daytona 500 logo, were printed in various colors and finished with a glossy UV coating. To make the package feel more authentic to the Daytona customer, Elizabeth Arden also designed an official Daytona 500 seal of authenticity.
The carton features a PVC window so customers can see the bottle. “We designed an insert that lets the bottle sit at an angle in the carton,” says Mendelson. “We really wanted the consumer to be able to see the top of the cap and all of its design elements, including the silver chrome, the black metal, and the red metal.”
The awards panelists feel that this package did its marketing job well. “I’m impressed with the branding,” says Hana Zalzal, president of Cargo Cosmetics.
“It’s masculine, and that concept is brought through the design,” agrees Dennis Furniss, vice president of strategic branding and design for design firm Kaleidoscope.
“The package does a good job at communicating what this fragrance is about,” says George Kress, vice president of corporate packaging for The Estée Lauder Companies.