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Art Of Packaging Awards: Achieving Design

_{Estée Lauder has made its signature deep-blue and gold colors a classic.}

For the Art of Packaging Awards’ 20th Anniversary, past winners share their insights on packaging excellence.

_{by MARIE REDDING}

Leading members of the beauty and packaging community will gather at New York City’s University Club on April 21 for the annual Art of Packaging awards gala. Each year since 1997, the Art of Packaging award has been presented to one beauty brand for excellence in packaging. Proceeds from the gala fund the Marc Rosen Scholarship for Graduate Package Design, a merit-based scholarship awarded to students enrolled in Rosen’s graduate packaging design course at the Pratt Institute.

This year, the scholarship celebrates its 20th anniversary, and no one company will win the Art of Packaging award. Instead, all past Art of Packaging winners will be honored. See the list below of winners past.

Marc Rosen’s criteria when judging an Art of Packaging winner is like his criteria for evaluating his students’ work. He bases his selection of award winners on skilled package design as well as whether or not a company is achieving branding through design. “A consistent message is key,” he says. “This is where many often miss the mark—even some major beauty companies.” In this article, former award winners share their secrets to packaging success.

Estée Lauder: Color Branding

“Estée Lauder is one company that clearly has branding down,” says Rosen. “It ‘owns’ that shade of blue,” he says, referring to the deep-blue shade—often accented with gold graphics—of Estée Lauder’s signature cosmetics line.

Sarah Kloman, vice president of package design, The Estée Lauder Companies, says, “Certain colors are crucial to a brand’s heritage—like Kodak yellow or Tiffany blue. We’d never walk away from our signature blue and gold.”

_{For its Sensuous line, Estée Lauder used branding colors of purple and rose-gold.}

Estée Lauder color-brands its other product lines as well. Its Sensuous collection features colors such as purple and rose-gold. “We start with a clean sheet of paper when creating a new fragrance. Each fragrance stands alone and has its own design story,” says Wayne LoPrete, vice president of package development for The Estée Lauder Companies.

_{“Looking at Dior’s cosmetic and fragrance packaging, it’s clear that it’s a French luxury brand and clearly connected to its fashion collection,” says Marc Rosen of past Art of Packaging winner Dior Beauty.}

Estée Lauder’s image is very much about beauty and a certain expected level of luxury, according to LoPrete. “For us, the art of packaging is about living up to our heritage. We deliver top-quality packaging that is both beautiful and luxurious by paying an extreme amount of attention to detail.” This type of detail can be seen in Estée Lauder’s Vivid Garden compact (pictured on this issue’s cover), or in the brand’s limited-edition holiday compacts (see web box below). (Read about the challenges of creating Vivid Garden in the next issue of CPC Packaging.)

Clinique: Form and Function

For Clinique, excellent packaging is “intelligent packaging,” or packaging for which form follows function, says Ted Owen, Clinique’s vice president of global package design. “We pride ourselves on making packaging that’s not ornamental,” he says. “Our approach is smart, direct, and classic. We’re always thinking about the best way to deliver the product to the consumer.”

Streamlined, classic packaging—as well as a certain color palette—has become the brand’s signature. Rosen says that when he thinks about the Clinique brand, he visualizes its green marble compact. “That green is an instantly recognizable symbol. Everything they’ve done and continue to do with their packaging perfectly conveys a single, consistent message to the consumer about the brand.”

_{Designers at Clinique say that the brand’s signature green compacts are an important part of the brand’s trade dress.}

Owen says that Clinique considers its green marble compact to be more of a vintage piece. “It is such a signature item for us and an important part of our trade dress,” he says. “It’s like when you see the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle and know that it can’t be any other brand of soda.”

Lynne Greene, Clinique’s global president, agrees. “Any woman can recognize Clinique’s iconic green marble compact from across a room. That, to me, defines what the art of packaging is all about. It’s that special moment when a woman feels drawn to a product, not only for its benefits but also for how the packaging makes her feel.”

Bath & Body Works: Packaging that Sells Itself

_{One of the latest collections in Bath & Body Works’ Signature Collection, Butterfly Flower.}

With thousands of product launches a year, all sold in a self-serve environment, Bath & Body Works needs packaging to be a “silent salesperson” and convey all of the information that customers need about a product. Dave Lyon, vice president of brand design at Bath & Body Works, says, “An incredible product, developed with cutting-edge technology, and a strong brand message are the elements that build a brand’s loyal customer base.”

_{Created by Art of Packaging winner Ralph Lauren, the Love, Ralph Lauren fragrance features a 47-karat amethyst atop its dauber to convey the notion that “love is a jewel,” says the company. The amethyst used on the luxury edition of the fragrance package is sourced from a mine in Brazil. The stone is hand-faceted by skilled artisans in Jaipur, India. “It is a remarkable demonstration of globalized resources that may not have been possible in the past,” says Guillaume de Lesquen, president, worldwide, Ralph Lauren Fragrances.}

Bath & Body Works’ Signature Collection consists of different bath and body lines, each focusing on a specific scent and ingredients. Vibrant labels help to differentiate each line and highlight its scent.

“For Signature Collection, the fragrance helps us shape each graphic,” says Lyon. “We work diligently to transform the perfumers’ inspiration into a compelling graphic that portrays the fragrance both emotionally and graphically.”

_{Cover Girl LashBlast by P&G Beauty has an applicator brush molded from thermoplastic elastomer. “We were the first company to package a mascara brush outside of the tube so that consumers could really see the brush and understand that this product was different,”says Carol Denison, principal design manager, P&G Beauty & Grooming.}

Winning the Art of Packaging award in 2005 was exciting for the Bath & Body Works team, says Lyon. “That year, we were undergoing a huge transformation, changing everything from the look of the store to launching a wide variety of new brands. This award was and still is a huge honor for Bath & Body Works.”

P&G Beauty: Performance-Tested

Carol Denison, principal design manager, P&G Beauty & Grooming, explains that what might appear to be a simple package has actually been designed and tested for ergonomics and efficient performance.

“The art of packaging also involves designing beyond efficiencies,” Denison says. “It becomes art when the designer creates dynamic, unusual, or sensual shapes; when surprising or luscious finishes are applied; when graphics enhance; and when information is clear.”

Marie Redding is a freelance writer in New York City. She can be reached at marieredding@yahoo.com

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