Spotlight: Paper Packaging

Stylish and Modern Boxes from Dunhill Impress Cigar Aficionados and Capture Best-of-Show at the 2004 NPA Awards

The makers of the premium Dunhill cigars sure hit on a winning combination when they decided the 2003 holiday season was the time for a special promotion featuring a memorable package design. In fall of 2003, Murray Sons and Co., Ltd., Dunhill's distributor, asked G2 Worldwide in New York City and Diamond Packaging of Rochester, N.Y., to produce a package like no other. Not only would the design have to be original and exciting in every visual, tactile, and functional way, Diamond would have to produce 55,000 boxes in six different sizes that would contain three cigars each, and turn it around posthaste.

Dunhills are a line of six premium cigars made in the Dominican Republic. Although all six cartons shared a nearly identical presentation, each cigar type specified different sizes for each of the components within. There are five paperbox component parts to each of the six cigar sizes, making for 30 different pieces. Each of these pieces has printing on them, and all but the inner maroon tray have embossed ridge fields, among other embossed and debossed elements.

The outer maroon sleeve was produced on an imported Colorplan paperboard, chosen for its beautiful finish as well as its excellent folding and scoring characteristics. The glued sleeve was designed with both open and sealed ends, which allowed the attractive silver tray to partially extrude, thereby enhancing shelf appeal and maximizing the Dunhill brand identity. The outer sleeve also featured a multitude of graphic enhancements such as multi-color printing, UV satin coating, embossing, debossing, and hot foil stamping. The subtle embossing pattern on the front and the back of the carton create visual interest and impart an unusual tactile effect.

Dennis Bacchetta, Diamond Packaging marketing manager, says Diamond Packaging had never seen the Colorplan paperboard before. "All of that was challenging because of the intricate bossing and debossing on a new material," Bacchetta relates. The entire package design is compact and sturdy, lending itself to being opened and closed numerous times while keeping the cigars secure from damage and protected against exposure to dust or moisture.

The silver tray and silver cigar tubes also feature metallic inks and embossing, but were converted from a .014 SBS paperboard. Both the cigar tubes and inner cell were designed to open and close in a tightly fitting, telescoping fashion. An inner maroon tray rests inside the sliding silver tray, and contains the three cigar tubes which are in turn wrapped together in handsomely printed vellum paper. Since the products are cigars, the inside of the cigar tubes and inner cells are printed with red food-safe ink.

After converting, all of the components were sent to Diamond Contract Manufacturing (DCM) for fulfillment, which luckily, is located right across the street from Diamond Packaging, and all the components were assembled by hand. Adhering to the narrow timeline of the project, DCM produced a total of nearly 55,000 cartons in just five days. The Dunhill boxes earned Diamond Packaging a Folding Carton "Best of Show" Award from the National Paperbox Association (NPA) and a Gold Award from the 61st National Paperboard Packaging Competition, sponsored by the Paperboard Packaging Council.