It’s All in the Decorative Details

Now more than ever, packaging designers are turning to decorative effects to attract consumer attention. From foil to flocking, here are some examples of how to utilize eye-catching techniques to ensure a great first impression.

Faux jewels add sparkle and bling to these compacts from Topline.

By Jennifer Hagemann, Contributing Writer

How long do you think you have to make a first impression? Sixty seconds? Twenty? Seven? According to research by Princeton psychologists, first impressions are formed in the blink of an eye. Try it. Blink. It’s not a lot of time.

While it’s true that beauty products are, in a sense, much like people—it’s what’s inside that counts—the reality is that success in marketing, as in life, is all about first impressions.

Considering that you have one-tenth of a second to make a good impression, industry designers and manufacturers know that the devil is in the details. And when it comes to packaging, the details are in the decoration.

Dress to Impress

As president and CEO of Unifoil Corporation Joseph Funicelli puts it, “Creating a look for a product is like everything in life—you always want to ‘dress to impress,’ ” and that is the cardinal rule for making a good first impression.

Labels can add a dramatic color effect while conveying an eco-friendly message

Considering that first impressions are formed in as few as 100 milliseconds, products competing in a retail market must grab the attention of consumers fast. Quality packaging and design that utilizes edgy and inspiring decorative techniques can transform even the most basic beauty care product into something irresistible.

Funicelli says, “Decoration done well is uplifting and inspiring. It pleases the eye, stirs the emotions, and captures the imagination. That positive experience elevates an everyday standard product into something exciting and desirable.”

One way to achieve the desired effect is through color.

The human eye can perceive as many as 10 million colors. The Pantone Color Bridge consists of 1,089 PMS colors. Factor in process color, and the color palette options are seemingly endless.

“In this current retail climate, thoughtful and creative uses of color are that much more important,” says Laurie Pressman, vice president of fashion, home and interiors at Pantone. “Now more than ever, designers need to come up with new ways to attract the consumer’s attention.”

One way to achieve dramatic color effects is with the use of labels. However, Don Earl, owner of Overnight Labels, Deer Park, NY, says that in the beauty packaging industry, a general misperception about the use of labels prevails.

“There are a fair amount of beauty products using labels,” he says, but educating ‘non-believers’ about the scope of flexography is a challenge. Earl says that flexo can generate the same if not better effect as UV and rotary silkscreen inks. “You cannot get the same graphic effect that you can with flexo and a label…the lines, the dots…you get a lot more depth of color,” he says.

Consider HydraMé, which uses coconut oil as a vegetable alternative in its product line. The pressure-sensitive label printed using flexography and 4-color process replicates the brand image flawlessly. And in keeping with the brand’s global preservation mission, all Overnight Label solutions are printed using water-based, eco-friendly inks.

Andrew Hanes, vice president of operations, Hanes Erie, Fairfax, PA, has noticed the shift toward color, too. “When I started in this business, CK One was really big and everything was white, black and silver,” he recalls. “We’re finally at the point where people are working with colors, metallics and a much larger color palette… the advantage is a richer appearance.” Factor in a combination of print technologies, and the resulting decorative effect can be opulent.

Bond No. 9’s Eau de New York bottle combines several decorative techniques.

Fade outs, multi-fade outs, knock-outs and other screening and coating techniques combined with hot stamping, pad printing, and more add a whole new life to color and the product itself. “By expanding on what you add to the package, aesthetically speaking, you’re increasing its value by making the product more attractive to the eye and to the touch. [You] give it impact on the shelf, so consumers are drawn in by the advances in graphics and coatings,” says Hanes.

Robert C. DeProspo, executive vice president of sales and marketing at USS Corporation, Newark, NJ, has noticed another color trend emerging—coloring glass containers with different effects. “Just by changing the color of the glass, we can make it new and vibrant,” he says.

While acid etching is still in vogue, DeProspo says spray coating using different hues and colors is a popular trend that can make the glass more luxurious. The pearlized milk glass of the Bond No. 9 Eau de New York bottle adorned with multi-colored subway tokens is evidence that combining decorative techniques can yield stunning results. This bottle’s decoration—symbolic of the neighborhoods of New York and the fragrance’s predecessors—was achieved by USS, using three spray passes, 24 silk-screening passes and extremely high registration.<

Dazzling Consumers

In addition to color, the use of shimmery, sophisticated decorative techniques and material choices is catching on as a means to lure consumers with a good first impression.

The metallic technique used for the Essence by Narciso Rodriguez flacon produced a futuristic mirror-like effect.

Sheherazade Chamlou, vice president of sales and marketing, perfumery division, SGD North America, New York, NY, explains, “The desire for luxury is expressed in metallic effects and a return to fine materials like aluminum, silver, copper and brass. These materials are more difficult to work with, but can produce a nice mirror effect.”

One modern, perhaps even futuristic, example of how a metallic decorative effect can create a stunning reflective quality is the Essence by Narciso Rodriguez bottle for women. The gently rounded glass flacon from SGD uses an internal silver mirror effect to create the illusion that the fragrance is “suspended within the bottle.”

In similar fashion, Idylle by Guerlain, a new women’s fragrance launched this past summer, is packaged by Solev in a bottle that resembles a drop of gold.

“We have used a new technology to metallize a selective area of the glass with special fixtures,” says Aviva Himoff, president of Preface Deux, the U.S. representative of G. Pivaudran, Solev, and Tesem. “This new technology allowed a perfect application without any additional secondary operation.”

Another Solev technology, called “sparkling effect,” diffuses a concentrated, but perfectly homogeneous dose of colored and metallic particles to create a smooth, shimmering effect. The package is then covered with a transparent film to further amplify the light. This new patent-pending special-effects varnish was used on the packaging of the latest lipstick from Helena Rubenstein, Wanted Stellars.

Select metallization was used to make the Idylle by Guerlain flacon resemble a drop of gold.

While metals and metallic effects are a great way to add a little bling, nothing says, “Bling!” quite like a jewel. Not only does a little costume jewelry never hurt when dressing to impress, but it can create a dazzling first impression.

“Consumers want to feel special and unique,” says Charles Chang, CEO of Topline Products, Inc., Wayne, NJ. “Embellishments add a sense of personalized style and individuality to cosmetic and personal care products. Some embellishments are tactile, some visual, but all make the user feel special.”

In addition to faux jewels adorning compacts and applicator wands, Chang says that Topline’s latest decorative technique is the patented square Luxepot that houses makeup, applicator and mirror all in a “sleek and stylish embellished compact.” He explains, “The compact lid can be embellished with special effects that may include silk screening, hot stamping, pad printing, heat transfer, UV lacquering, or metallizing to add variety and personalization.”

Brilliant decorative effects used on secondary packaging dazzle and impress, too. Arkay’s Interfoil delivers radiance via a unique and innovative UV process. “This groundbreaking in-line procedure manages to be both cost-effective and luminous in its beauty and scope, bringing a breathtaking radiance to our customers’ packaging by providing a larger palette on which to design,” explains Mitchell Kaneff, CEO, Arkay Packaging, Hauppauge, NY.

Not to be confused with foil and/or metallized film, Unilustre is a non-laminated transfer metallization process that offers a versatile metallic aesthetic. “Beauty and superior performance are timeless qualities, and Unilustre possesses both,” says Funicelli, “Its superior reflective finish is always attractive, which causes in-store shelf impact and differentiates the product it is packaging.”

According to Funicelli, Unilustre is easy to design with, print on and convert, and like UltraLustre—the company’s latest technology that produces shimmering silver, gold and holographic decorative effects on in-mold labels and injection and blow-molded packaging—it’s environmentally friendly since it offers source reduction and recyclability.

Feeling Good

Combining the visual allure of vibrant, exquisite colors, shiny eye-catching metallics and dazzling jewel-like embellishments with another sensory experience—a tactile one—further enhances the overall decorative effect of the package and its instant appeal. “The sensation of touch has always had the unique ability to arouse a response in people because they’re not only seeing something lovely, but they are feeling its beauty through their fingertips, as well,” says Kaneff.

Arkay’s Interfoil, creates secondary packaging that’s luminous and cost-effective.

One example of a “feel good” decorative effect is Arkay’s Touch, which uses a specialized veneer developed from a high-performance aqueous coating to produce a distinctive, sensuous finish that is soft and yielding. “In the world of Arkay Packaging, we turn the adage about books around,” says Kaneff. “We want you to judge the product by its cover!”

Flocking is another way to “cover” a product with visual and tactile appeal. “The use of flock-coated materials in the beauty packaging industry is a huge asset to the packaging designer and specifier because [it offers] a multitude of design alternatives to the material selection process,” says Brian Abramek, vice president/general manager, Flock Tex, Inc., Woonsocket, RI. “By varying the type of flock fibers, various textures are created to simulate suede and velvet. We can also add additional decorative effects such as glimmer, metallic glitters, textured embossing and multi-color fibers. All of these effects can be processed on polystyrene for vacuum formed inserts, paper for box wraps, and SBS for folding cartons.”

Inspired by Brazilian lace and organic wood, Rexam developed a full-line repack for Natura’s Aquarela line.

Inspired by texture—lace trimmings, embroideries and organic wood—Rexam developed a full-line repack for Natura’s Aquarela makeup line. The lipstick packaging solution includes silk screening on the lipstick mechanism’s sleeve and further customization of a wood-plastic composite formula that renders the wood particulates visible. The rustic aspects of the wood and the sophistication of the pearl effect make for an interesting, seemingly palpable effect, at least upon first glance, which draws the buyer in for a closer look.

Whether real or illusionary, visual or tactile, a blast of color or a flash of light, a package has a split second to make an impression. When that impression is a good one, the groundwork for a relationship has been established…and that is the essence of every package design.