February 27, 2008
· Number 30
DESIGN: Piper Heidsieck Asks Viktor & Rolf to 'Invert' Rosé Sauvage VintageThe House of Piper Heidsieck called upon the designers at the Viktor & Rolf for a very exclusive champagne edition during the 2007 end-of-year festivities. Viktor & Rolf is an Amsterdam-based fashion brand, founded by Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, reputed for its unique style in the fashion world. Viktor & Rolf produced a stunning package in which the famous bottle of champagne is literally turned upside-down to make heads spin.
Faced with the challenge of inventing something new based on something eternal, the only solution was to upturn the proportions. As in their Milan boutique, the Dutch design duet opted for an upside-down look for this limited Piper Heidsieck edition aimed at an international clientele and only available from a few exclusive outlets hand-selected in 12 countries.
The base of the bottle, now at the top, reproduces the proportions of the legendary champagne cork and its wire cage and foil. It is also enhanced with a pink and black gold ribbon stamped with the Piper logo. The cage look is achieved with a tightly fitting sleeve slipped over the preformed plastic shell that encases the bottle, all of which enhanced by classic labels in pure champagne tradition. To achieve this highly innovative result, Sleever International proposed using a Thermosleeve® to produce the quality of finish required by Piper-Heidsieck and Viktor & Rolf.
The Thermosleeve is made out of a mono-oriented OPS film developed by Sleever Technologies and has the capacity to highlight the delicate “twists” of the wire cage and to adapt to the requirements of two materials—glass and plastic. Printed using three-color gravure printing, it features white to set off the bright colors, a shiny gold, and a highly brilliant black. Its intrinsic qualities are further combined with high precision positioning to ensure that the Piper-Heidsieck lettering was accurately placed in relation to the twisted wire cage.
Christina Aguilera’s Spirit Captured in a Lacy Bottle
Axilone developed the components of this bottle to feature the sensual curves of Christina Aguilera. The Christina fragrance features bobbinet lace design that covers the bottle and brings a glamorous touch.
The faceted cap made of surlyn PC2000, and a black satin bow, precisely aligned with the cap, adds the final Christina touch. The whole combination renders Christina’s spirit in a unique package. For more, visit www.axilone-sa.com.
STRUCTURE: Rexam's Personal Care Division Creates Innovative Compact for Maybelline
The innovation for Maybelline’s Dream Matte Powder is the design of the pressed powder compact. This compact is a first-ever side- and vertical-opening case.
Maybelline wanted a case as innovative as its new brand, which it calls the "Powder Revolution." The consumer benefits include new levels of convenience thanks to the option of side or vertical opening.
The lower section holds the "puff" and the top section holds the powder. The top section has a "shade evident" lens so consumers can see the shade of the powder on the shelf.
The design of the case demonstrates considerable technical skill including the creation and assembly of the five-part case: two screen print runs on the lid; two welding operations on the upper and lower sections; positioning of the mirror; and final assembly. The quality of the injection molding pearl material results in an elegant, modern case, and ergonomic benefits include a distinct "click" at opening/closure and easy-grasp grip. For more, visit www.rexam.com.
COMPONENT: J.L. Clark Introduces Premium Metal Containers in Low Quantities
Specialty packaging manufacturer J.L. Clark has introduced a new line of premium metal containers available in low minimum order quantities and with a variety of highly desirable sizes, styles, and customization options.
The new family of products enables manufacturers to take advantage of all the benefits of J.L. Clark’s decorative metal containers, but with the flexibility to order in smaller quantities than typically required with packaging of this type. Now metal makes sense for more manufacturers and more packaging applications than ever before, according to J.L. Clark v.p. sales and marketing Michael Matus. “We call it ‘Any way you like it!’ packaging, because customers now have more options to package their products in ways that consumers find highly desirable,” says Matus.
The line includes 15 domestically-produced structures—rectangular, round, and square in a variety of sizes and styles. Dozens of different combinations of sizes, plain tin or with multi-color lithography, structural options such as clear window covers and a unique plastic ring hinge, and even product filling are available to meet a wide variety of product, branding and decorating requirements. For more, visit www.jlclark.com.
MATERIAL: General Line Packaging Group Offers Carafe Bottles in PET
The General Line Packaging Group, a division of O.BERK Company, introduces Carafe Bottles in PET in 16-oz and 32-oz, both with 28-400 finishes. The major advantages of this package over glass include no breakage and lighter weight, while still keeping its major benefit of clarity.
These bottles are ideal for water, juice, tea, edible oils and other beverage products where store shelf presence is important. The ergonomic design of these bottles near the neck makes them easy to pour with maximum room for a strong label presence. The Carafe Bottles offer the freedom to select custom colors, labeling, and silk-screen printing. For more, visit www.OBERK.com.
SUSTAINABILITY: Altair Uses Simulation and Optimization to Find Sustainable SolutionsOver the past two decades, Altair has developed an approach for optimizing packaging which is based on key differentiating technologies unique to their service. Virtual design technologies can offer brand owners savings in several ways. One way is with top load strengthening, which helps reduce or eliminate secondary and tertiary packaging.
Other opportunities for sustainability include optimizing bottle shape for manufacturing or optimizing footprint and bottle sizing for shipment and retail display. In this case study shown here, the Lever Faberge brand wanted to maintain the aesthetics of their current plastic bottle package yet minimize material usage and improve performance under stacking and transportation loading.
Computer optimization results achieved a 20% increase in top load strength in combination with a 5% reduction in resin while meeting the brand’s aesthetic needs. For a high volume consumable such as this product, the combination of these two factors can lead to substantial savings. Visit www.altair.com.
TOOLBOX: Designer’s Toolbox Sponsor of the Week
ARES Printing & Packaging
Ares is a New York City manufacturer and designer of paperboard and E-flute folding cartons and displays. Home of the two largest sheet-fed printing presses in New York State and a manufacturer of e-flute, ARES offers clients the entire spectrum of services in-house, including CAD design, structural engineering, multi color printing, specialty coating and effects, prototyping, proofing, die-cutting, foil stamping, embossing, cellophane windowing, folding, gluing, film laminating, hand assembly and fulfillment.
ARES Printing & Packaging serves the cosmetics, fragrance, pharmaceutical, food/beverage, electronics, consumer goods and personal/healthcare industries with superior quality and service, prompt turnaround, and competitive pricing.
ARES Printing & Packaging
Brooklyn Navy Yard, Bldg 5, 63 Flushing Ave., Unit 224,
Brooklyn, NY 11205
Ph: 718-858-8760
Fax: 718-260-8692
Email: george@aresny.com
Web: www.aresny.com
If you missed the 2007 Package Design Toolbox, check up on the participants here.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Sun Chemical’s Global Color Innovation Webinar Series Available for Free on Package Design Website
The second of three in Sun Chemical’s Webinar Series is entitled “Elevating Strategy Using Color.” Before any brand messages or benefits are registered by consumers on a package design, they view and process the colors. Learn how to drive the perception of your brand and connect with your customers by using color and color technology. The speakers are Don Childs, v.p. creative at laga, and Michelle Hearn director of marketing, North American packaging for Sun Chemical. To go directly to this webinar, click here.
WHITE PAPER: Learn About Valuable Project Management Tools and the Project Success Method
The use of project management tools is growing rapidly in corporations and other organizations.
Three short white papers relate to project management tools or methods that are used worldwide on complex, strategic projects.
Each white paper was written by one of the developers of the Project Success MethodSM.
The Project Success Method is a proprietary project planning and control methodology that has been developed and refined in thousands of client projects over the past 25 years.
It is a practical, tightly integrated set of management processes by which project managers and their teams precisely define, thoroughly plan and persistently control their projects.
The methodology has been "fire-tested" and has proven effective on virtually all types of projects regardless of size, application, location, culture or industry.
It has been used in companies such as Alltel, The Coca-Cola Company, Caterpillar, Formica, Fujitsu, Kimberly-Clark, Sony, and Time Warner.
Author Dr. Thomas B. (Tom) Clark is cofounder of Project Success, Inc. (PSI).
Tom is heavily involved in the development and delivery of PSI's courses.
In addition to his work with PSI, he is professor emeritus of management at Georgia State University.
He also served the University as Chair of the Department of Management and as Acting Dean of the College of Business Administration.
Download the white-paper PDF here.
For more, visit www.projectsuccess.com or call 678-801-4500.
SOFTWARE: CHALEX Announces Commercial Launch of BpDAM Connectivity Software
CHALEX Corp. introduces the first truly affordable software-as-a-service (SaaS) application that targets the global connected productivity market for consumers and small businesses. BpDAM is an intuitive browser-based service for securely managing and sharing digital files and orchestrating multiple concurrent online collaborations that interact seamlessly with centrally managed archives, collections, and assets.
BpDAM eliminates the waste and liability of collaborating through email attachments and shared file folders. Registration is free and includes full access to all features for 30 days. Subscribers to the BpDAM service can share and collaborate with registered users of their choosing through their personal BpDAM address book. For $35.95 a month, a subscriber and ten registered users may securely share digital archives, collections and assets and participate in multiple concurrent audited collaborations using a modern Web browser.
"CHALEX is bringing high-end business process and information management tools to the global professional and small business through an intuitive user interface to provide enterprise class functionality at consumer pricing," says Chris Shipley, executive producer of the DEMO 08 conference, where CHALEX Corp. launched its BpDAM service.
Gary Bollinger and Murray Oles founded CHALEX in 2002 to provide management consulting and custom software development services to manage business processes and their related digital assets. Bollinger was one of the Artesia cofounders and chief software architect when it was spun out from Thompson. Oles is a change agent and innovator that was v.p. of image technology with the executive team that launched Big Flower Press in 1995 through its transition to Vertis Inc. in 2000.
For more, visit www.bpdam.com.
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COMPASS is an online software tool for packaging designers and engineers to compare the environmental impacts of their package designs.