2008 Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Personal Care
Method Baby and Kid
by Method Products Inc.
Like all of Method’s packaging, its new personal care lines for babies and kids are very chic for the mass market. The packages are adorable without being cutesy, and contemporary and intriguing enough to woo both adults and children.
The collections’ star package is a bottle that resembles some type of creature. “I love the shape of this bottle. To me, it looks like a child,” says CPC Packaging awards panelist Alan Bodker, executive director of Origins package development.
Method purposely left the bottle’s shape ambiguous. “We started with [the idea] of manatees, seals, and axolotls,” says Sally Clarke, Method’s art director. “We call the final bottle ‘the otter,’ but we purposely kept it loose to allow kids to use their imaginations. Some see a cat, some see penguins, and others see otters.”
Although it is for children, the design is also sophisticated, per Method’s fashion. “We chose the style of the animal to be contemporary and not kitschy or Disney-like,” says Clarke. “We wanted it to be hip so that parents could have fun with it, too.”
One feature that parents will appreciate is the bottle’s easy-to-use dispenser. Similar to the dispenser on Method’s inverted dish soap bottle, the dispenser is located on the package’s bottom. This feature makes it easy for customers to dispense product without having to first flip the bottle upside-down.
A silicone valve prevents product from leaking when the bottle is standing upright. When customers squeeze the package, pressure forces product out through the valve. “It helps younger Method users avoid messes during dispensing,” adds Erik Frey, whose professional title at Method is plastic surgeon of baby and personal care. (All Method employees have unique titles such as “Shape-shifter,” “Disruptor,” and “Artsy Smartsy.”)
The bottle is used for all of the products in the kids’ line—three-in-one shampoos and body washes—and for the babies’ bubble bath. Developed and produced in three months, the bottle was imported from Asia and blow-molded from high-density polyethylene and a small amount of polypropylene for a soft-touch finish. “The tactility of all of our products, especially the ones that are picked up and squeezed, is really important. It adds to the functionality and feels great in a slippery environment like your bathtub,” says Josh Handy, whose title is “Disruptor.”
Another stand-out package is the bottle for the babies’ hair and body wash. The egg-shaped package features a large green overcap that doubles as a cup that can be used for rinsing off baby. “Being a dad myself, I appreciate how easy this would be to use when giving my kids a bath,” says awards panelist Steve Corsi, director of design development for Markwins International.
These two bottles, as well as numerous others, make the Method Baby and Kid lines functional, fascinating, and above all, a lot of fun.