Packaging is the ultimate vehicle for design: industrial, graphic, and typographic design are all put to the test to create an impression so meaningful that it converts currency into consumerism. This ...
By Ron Romanik
When the founder of Marital Wellness International, Idaho-born Kathleen Williams, had perfected her line of personal care products, she went to the 2006 HBA Global Expo show in New York City to source all of her package design ideas. There she found everything she needed to launch her boutique products, which are now catching shoppers' eyes in the Bellagio Hotel and MGM-Mirage properties in Las Vegas.
In research and development for close to 10 years, the Anticipation™ line was just launched in February 2007. After years of research, Williams came to believe that if you cannot safely ingest a cosmetic then you have no business putting it on your very absorbent, porous skin. The massage oils and personal lubricant products are catching on as some customers are using them more as an all-over body cosmetic than just a marital aid.
Williams assembled the packaging ideas and sources at HBA that helped her launch the product as a high-end boutique purchase. "For new companies, packaging is everything," Williams says. "We try to keep our packaging as high-end as possible." Relying on the advice and direction of her printer, LithoFlexo Grafics in Salt Lake City, Williams recruited Action Bag Company, Marketing Innovations, and Xela Pack and to complete her mission.
LithoFlexo Grafics helped Action Bags achieve maximum impact for Williams polka-dotted vision of a large, sturdy paperboard purse and a mini travel purse. Marketing Innovations provided the metal charm, which is smooth and dark on the back side, and Xela Pack provided the small sample dispensers for the mini travel purse. However, it's the eye-catching appeal of the polka dot purse that was the most pleasant surprise for both Williams and her retailers.
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