04.27.12
|
Jason Wu’s new artisanal candle is crowned with a gold-plated lid. |
Shimmering packages dressed up with metal or metallized effects catch the consumer’s eye and add perceived value.
From runway fashions to beauty and home fragrance product packaging, shimmering metallic accents are helping define today’s luxe looks. When fashion designer Jason Wu, and Laura Slatkin, founder and CEO of NEST Fragrances, partnered for Wu’s first luxury scented candle, Orchid Rain, they selected an elegant gold-plated lid to top off the artisanal candle. The custom-made porcelain candle vessel is decorated with the designer’s signature orchid-floral print in a bisque finish and is inspired by his Spring 2012 Collection. Perfumer Christophe Laudamiel created the exotic fragrance combination of fruity and modern floral notes.
“Florals play an important role in my designs, so for my first fragrance, I wanted to create a floral scent that would reflect my feminine design aesthetic,” says Wu. The 7-oz. candle, which recently debuted at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and select luxury boutiques nationwide for $48, is housed in a soft-gray, textured linen-paper box for a classic, sophisticated look.
Trending Metals
Mass and prestige markets are shining with everything from metal components to metallized decorative techniques, as brands add perceived value to their products. “Metal effects are used by customers who want to send a message to the consumers that their products are more upscale and luxurious. The glimmer of the metal catches the consumer’s eye,” explains Jenifer Brady, vice president sales and marketing at Brad-Pak Enterprises Inc.
|
Companies such as Anomatic have seen interest in upgrading packaging by adding metal. |
“Metal denotes a luxe look,” concurs Anthony DeMarco, executive vice president HCT East Coast. “As a full turnkey company in the cosmetics industry, HCT is a one-stop source that can meet all packaging and filling needs. The metals division of the HCT group complements our position in the cosmetics industry,” explains DeMarco.
At the metal factory, which is owned by HCT, the group designs innovative and award-winning products like its patented metal tips (see page 58 in this issue) used in skin treatment products as well as color cosmetics. “We also have our own electroplating factory,” says DeMarco. “Everything is done in house and HCT owned, which is key. It gives us full control of all the processes, which allows us to support our commitments to our clients.”
The HCT metal factory, which is about four years old, also produces hand-held mirrors, compacts, fragrance caps, closures, cosmetic jewelry and accessories. “We also combine different metal materials,” he adds.
Currently HCT is creating the new Kevyn Aucoin lipstick case, set to debut in Fall 2012. “It is a mix of metal materials: a zamac base with an aluminum cover,” explains Jackie Paterno, sales director at HCT. “Kevyn Aucoin has a signature custom burgundy gradation finish. HCT achieves this finish with a special anodize and spray technique that was combined to achieve the depth of gradation that is needed for this unique color,” she explains.
Touches of Gold
|
Aluminum components, like the ones from Integrated Aluminum Components, are 100% recyclable and serve as an ideal option for customers looking for “green” packaging. |
The company worked on a recent fragrance project with a leading U.S.-based company that extensively used metal and metallization both for the cap and the bottle. “The closure combined a gold metal plate on top of the cap and a gold UV metallized collar produced in our Poland factory with our in-house in-line metallizing system,” says Markert, who is responsible for product design and development for the company, along with its two metallizing operations. “UV metallization has gained popularity in the past five years especially in the creation of components that require a reflective gold aspect. Gold electroplating has become too expensive due to the high price of gold.”
Anodizing Options
Beauty companies are also tapping Anomatic, for their packaging projects using metal. In 2011, the company processed more than 400 custom colors for the cosmetic, health and beauty categories. “We certainly do see the increase in popularity of customers wanting to add metal to their primary packaging. It gives the package a more upscale look with a refined finish,” says Tony Cecchinato, vice president of sales for Anomatic Corporation. “Customers are also seeing the benefit of anodization in their packaging due to the recyclability of aluminum, and Anomatic’s recycling efforts overall. Anodizing, commonly referred to as the “green” finish, uses recycled content which makes customers feel great and in turn, the consumer as well.”
|
The Burberry prestige line of color cosmetics packages, produced by Topline Products, required self-aligning magnetic closures, textured silk screening and metallization on charged ABS. |
“Metal is increasingly popular in the market thanks to its tactile and aesthetical nature, which adds a luxurious/expensive finish to the product,” says Danielle Oliver, senior key account manager, Integrated Aluminum Components Limited.
She agrees that the recyclability of aluminum makes it a good option for many customers seeking “green” packaging. “The cost of the raw materials, chemicals and utilities are increasing while pressure from the end customer and consumer is for reduction in prices,” she explains. “All our beauty and cosmetic products are from aluminum that we press and anodize at one site in the UK. We manufacture actuator sheaths, collars, lotion shrouds, sleeves, overcaps, screw ferrules and ferrules. We supply into assembly companies who then sell the pumps on to the end customer who are the likes of L’Oréal and Estée Lauder.”
Intricate Designs
Using metal in packaging design is not without challenges. At times, customers request intricate shapes. “They might want a more unbalanced shape component or one that has a sharp radius or sharp corners that present a challenge to manufacture in an eyelet process,” says Anomatic’s Cecchinato. “Customers also want to add metal to stock plastic closures. Depending on the plastic closure design, there can be challenges to have the added metal fit smoothly with the mating packaging. Despite these challenges, customers are drawn to adding an anodized component over plastic as it creates a value added, sleek look to their packaging which draws consumers in,” he says.
To get just the right look for its clients, Topline Products offers an array of services that involve using metal for primary packaging including anodizing, electroplating, in-house metal forming and vacuum metallizing. “When Topline produced the Brightening Eye Shadow Duo compact for Mally Beauty, we used multi-step metal forming to shape the metal compact, creating the unique appearance of a perfectly smooth surface with none of the sink marks that can be created using an over-sprayed plastic part. This is a perfect solution for brands seeking a prestige/superior quality appearance,” explains Sandra Hutson, sales and marketing director, at Topline.
Next the company took on the challenge of finding a way to improve the durability of the logo graphics. “To solve this, we employed a process called double anodization. This process creates the logo within the surface of the lid rather than using a surface decoration technique such as hot stamping or screening,” she says.
A third challenge Topline faced with the Mally Beauty packaging was keeping the color, finish and look consistent in the various shapes and materials used across the brand. “As a solution, we employed a combination of special processes including vacuum metallization, electroplating and over-spray to create the brand’s distinctive metal effect. This was no easy feat, but by paying close attention to the details and implementing the highest quality checks, we were successful,” Hutson adds.
The Burberry prestige line of color cosmetics packages, produced by Topline Products, also required several challenging manufacturing and decoration techniques such as self-aligning magnetic closures, textured silk screening for the brand’s signature tartan design, and metallization on charged ABS. For the process, the charged ABS pieces feature pure, straight lines, accentuated with gunmetal color metallization and the tartan motif in duo-tone screen printing. The printing, finished with tone-on-tone inks in relief, provides a rich, tactile experience for the end-user as well as a discrete, elegant visual effect that is difficult to achieve on a metallized surface, she says. The lipstick and compacts are designed with self-aligning magnetic closures, adding an acoustic touch for a distinctive luxury impression. Customized magnet shapes had to be developed to create the closure.
Cost and Flexibility
|
Customers often use metal or metallized components, like these from Cospack, to elegantly accessorize the overall appearance of their packaging. |
“There are many innovative finishes with metal available and today we can offer more graphics, and more decorating techniques, where in the past metal was metallized a single color, primarily gold or silver. We have gone way past that now with colors, coatings, epoxy treatments and new decorating techniques. HCT’s latest decorating technique is an AquaTech process that allows decoration of patterns on the full surface of the metal, without seams or voids,” says Paterno.
With its vast selection of stock metal closures and dispensers in the U.S., Cospack America Corp. sees many clients selecting closures and dispensers that have aluminum overshells to enhance the overall appearance of the packaging. “It’s a cost effective way for our clients to increase their brand’s shelf exposure,” explains David Hou, director, marketing and sales at Cospack. “Cost and flexibility are the main reasons metal and metallizing effects are becoming more popular and no longer are just something utilized by the prestige brand. We encourage our clients who want an upscale look without breaking the bank to consider utilizing metal or metallized components as a way to elegantly accessorize the overall appearance of their packaging,” he says.
An important key to choosing the right package is deciding whether to use metal or metallized components. Hou points out that something that is metallized may look like metal but texture-wise, it has a much different feel. “Also, certain plastics tend not to metallize well, so clients need to know what the differences are, and which method would be best to achieve the results they are looking for,” he says.
While metal can be more costly, the upfront investment in metals is less expensive than building injection molding tools. “Piece price is higher than plastic, obviously, but the beauty of metal is that tooling costs for metal compared to tooling costs for plastic are night and day,” explains HCT’s Paterno. “For example, if you tool a compact in zamac or aluminum, it is relatively inexpensive compared to an injection mold. Companies can tool a really nice zamac piece to add to their line, for minimal investment,” she says.
“It is the cost moving forward with metal compared to a plastic component that is more expensive. But then on the other hand, to invest in injection tools, the upfront investment is more costly than it would be for metals,” DeMarco adds.
Metal suppliers note that as the economy continues to turn around, metal components, accents and metallizing decorative techniques will be in demand. “People are going to put a little bit more money into their packaging when the economy turns and a metal piece is the perfect solution. Metal allows you to have that one special item in your line to really give that luxe feel, especially for the holidays,” says Paterno.
