John Waski Design

Westport, CT
www.johnwaskidesign.com

The John Waski Design firm oobserved that Dashing Diva had prided themselves with "reinventing the nail salon experience"—from their products to their unique salon environments. Partners John Waski and Norma Kwan-Waski resolved to infuse their new product redesign with a sense of fashion and sex appeal while maintaining the overall equity of the brand. The resulting concepts create an upscale, spa-like imagery for a whole new experience in nail care at Dashing Diva.

JWD was inspired by the concept of the retail environment of Dashing Diva with all the curves and sexy lines, as well as the brand name "Diva," someone who has the style and elegance of a princess, but at the same time a sexy and chic temptress with a bit of an attitude. The hourglass shape has the ability to connote the female form in a sensual and aesthetic way, and the shape allowed JWD to infuse an ergonomical and functional usage dynamic to the line.

Norma Kwan-Waski explains that the shapes were not just intended to be a sensual look, but to have form with function and to take the Dashing Diva brand to another level. "It conforms to what Dashing Diva represents," Norma explains. "Every aspect speaks to the product, the environment they are in and the brand."

"For starters, we landed on the hourglass shape for the nail color bottle structure because there were some ergonomic things missing from this category, " says John. He explains that the reason the shape has not been explored fully in the category may be that it demands custom tooling, but also that consumers for this category may not have been thoroughly researched to find out what works and what does not work when in use.

JWD designed the nail color bottles with frosted iridescent glass to create a consistent brand look on-shelf. A small, slender clear window shows the color variants in the line. The neck is covered with silicone to create an extra secure grip, and the slender neck provides users a way to paint their nails worry-free from spills and struggles with the bottle, as the user can hold the nail polish bottle between their fingers or toes when applying polish.

For the Body Massage Oil package, the pump mechanism is hidden within the overall structure due to aesthetic purpose. The top is made of a soft rubber substrate to provide easy application without slipping. The slender, hourglass part of the structure helps add to a secure no-slip grip application.

The Tailor Fit nails are housed in a soft, sexy container. The curved and rounded edges create a softer feel when in the users' hands and enhance the overall imagery. The nail kit was also designed for on-shelf aesthetics and ease of storage. The tray is spring activated and opened by pushing the soft rubber point at the top.

The Hand Veneer product continues the hourglass shape and the soft curve imagery, this time with a pop-top lid to maintain the simple, slender, and sexy diva appeal. On this package, a sub-brand icon was created for the iconic Dashing Diva "hand" with consideration for the Dashing Diva umbrella brand identity.

"With these brand extensions," says John, "Dashing Diva can really utilize the forms without fragmenting the brand. We wanted to have the structure tell the story. " Silicon components make the components non-slip for all sizes of hands. The tall slender shapes emulate a female form and slender waistline, also reminiscent of a classic black cocktail dress.

"The new designs we have created will appeal to the Dashing Diva consumers, since there is an overall sense of fun as well as sex appeal. The whole color management can be further line extendable and still represent the brand with a spa feel, " John Waski concludes. "It leverages the company to do other high-end lines."