Marie Redding, Associate Editor08.12.14
A bottle or jar’s cap is one of the first parts of a package the consumer comes into contact with when using the product—and an integral part of that “make or break” moment, when first impressions are formed.
An unusual design or color will attract attention, but functionality is equally important. The right type of cap—whether it’s on a luxe fragrance bottle, a plastic jar, or shampoo bottle—can improve ease of use, as well as enhance the user’s experience with the product.
Technotraf Wood Packaging, a Quadpack company, used a combination of wood and aluminum to create the cap for the fragrances in the Jean Patou Heritage collection.
Creating caps in unique shapes has been a trend among brands, especially for fragrances. “We have been hearing a lot of requests for metal caps in unique shapes and designs,” says Scott Rusch, president and CEO, Anomatic.
The “skyline cap” created for the new fragrance, DKNY MYNY, is sure to leave a lasting first impression when consumers first pick up the bottle. The cap features a mini-replica of the NYC skyline, and it resembles a sculpture.
The fragrance’s cap was designed by the New York based artist, Curtis Kulig. Kulig is known for his iconic ‘Love Me’ campaign, which can be found on canvases, sculptures, rooftops and billboards in NYC, Los Angeles, Paris, Istanbul and Berlin. For the Fall 2013 DKNY fashion campaign, Curtis adapted his signature script to “Love NY,” which is engraved on one corner of the bottle’s cap—as if it is on the roof of a building.
DKNY switched from its iconic apple-shaped bottle—and its smooth cap—and has replicated a 3-D sculpture of the New York City skyline to top its new fragrance, MYNY.
“The finial has an organic shape that mimics the natural structure of a flower. Requests for organic, flowing shapes have been a trend among our customers—like the rigid ribbon we recently launched for Victoria by Victoria’s Secret,” says Jack Albanese, director of new business development at Lombardi. “It seems as if every new launch we have worked on in recent months includes either some type of uniquely shaped cap, the use of innovative materials, or a stand-out decoration,” he adds.
Other design trends, according to Albanese, are the use of decorative nameplates in place of conventional decorating techniques, as well as patterns around a cap’s outer surfaces.
“Our strength is the ability to translate our customer’s creativity into physical parts that are true to the design intent, while maintaining the technical requirements set forth by a brand’s engineering and package development teams,” adds Albanese.
Another design that looks almost MOMA-worthy is the stone-shaped cap created by Pujolasos Wood & Pack for the six fragrances in the collection, Sculptures Olfactives by Majda Bekkali. Tendre Est La Nuit is shown here—its cap resembles wood. “We specialize in the manufacture of luxury packaging and caps in wood, for fragrance and cosmetics,” says Angel Pujolasos Jr., industrial engineer/CEO & project manager, Pujolasos Wood & Pack.
Lombardi Design is often asked to create and decorate uniquely shaped caps, like this elegant one produced for Oscar de la Renta’s dusting powder.
Another fragrance collection that has bottles with caps made from wood is the Jean Patou Heritage collection, which contains three scents—Chaldée, Patou Pour Homme and Eau de Patou. The team at Technotraf Wood Packaging, a Quadpack company, recently created the caps for these fragrances.
The caps feature a combination of wood and metal. Technotraf integrated an aluminum cap, anodized in gold, which has an outer sheath of dark beech wood. There is also a ring on the neck of each bottle, which is decorated in the same metal treatment.
“On shelf, you always want something that will catch the consumer’s eye,” says Chuck Mitchell, vice president of sales, Colt’s Plastics Company, Inc. “A plastic cap in a unique color is one way to achieve a stand-out look and ‘brand’ a product, and it’s something that we have seen a lot of interest in,” he adds.
Pureology has made its signature flat caps purple for its new launch, the Strength Cure hair care collection. The caps allow the conditioner bottle to stand upside down, tottle-style. The brand has been using this unique shape for its bottles and caps since it enlisted the help of designer Robert Bergmannto redesign its packaging in 2012, and
PujolasosWood & Pack produced the round caps which are made from wood and resemble sculptures, for the women’s fragrance Tendre Est La Nuit by Majda Bekkali Sculptures Olfactives.
has been receiving great feedback on the look ever since.
“The new look has been very well received by our salon partners, but even better received is its eco-friendly feature—our bottles and caps are made with 50% recycled materials, and the no-waste design allows you to use every drop of product,” says Amanda Lehner, spokesperson for the brand. (Read more about Pureology’s Zero Waste Shampoo and Conditioner packaging at BeautyPackaging.com).
On metal, there’s one unique way to reinterpret a trendy pink hue—use a rose gold finish. Cameo Metal is a supplier that offers this sophisticated look. The company specializes in translating decorating techniques from the jewelry world, and using them to create luxury metal caps and packaging for fragrances and beauty products.
“Rose gold has been all the rage right now—in various shades,” says Anthony Di Maio, chief operating officer, Cameo Metal Products, Inc. “Our customers love our jewelry-like polishing techniques with the Rose Gold coloring. We’ve been told it can make a package seem to ‘jump’ off shelves, since it’s a trendy look that really stands out,” he adds.
Pureology’s signature flat caps, an innovative functional design that is also eco-friendly, are now colored purple for the brand’s new launch, the Strength Cure collection.
Aqua Spa is one brand using caps that are sprayed silver, for its bath salts. The product, in its bathroom-friendly plastic jar, is sold in mass-market stores, but its design looks “masstige.”
“We chose silver lids to make sure the brand stands out in the sea of white packaging typically found on shelf in mass market,” says Kristi Moe, brand manager, Aqua Spa. “Our goal is to create packaging that looks luxurious and modern to give users the feel of using spa products, without the spa process,” she adds.
The silver color was achieved using a pearlized silver and custom silver PMS color. “The upscale effect mimics metallic, while avoiding any issues actual metallic packaging may have with rust stains,” Moe explains.
A new technology Anomatic is developing has the ability to create square metal caps with sharper corners. “This can be a way to give a cap a more luxe look, for both the prestige and masstige markets. It will stand out among the more common designs that have rounded edges,” explains Rusch.
Aqua Spa chose a plastic cap that is sprayed with a matte silver finish, to give its bath salts a more luxe look.
The team at Anomatic was recently assigned the task of producing the cap for Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Serum.
“There are two highly textured bands that go around the cap 360 degrees,” says Rusch. The textured bands, which resemble stripes, stand out against the gold cap’s smooth shiny finish.
“We were able to incorporate the fabrication of the bands right into the fabrication of the part,” explains Rusch.
When developing the cap for Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair, Anomatic was able to incorporate the fabrication of its decorative bands into the part, so a secondary manufacturing process wasn’t necessary.
Saco also recently produced a gold cap with textured bands, decorated with a combination of shiny and matte finishes. The supplier is showing off this cap, however, due to another important design detail—Saco’s new “roll-over” edge.
“The ‘roll over’ edge hides the edge of the inner cap—but it provides more than just aesthetic benefits. It protects part-on-part scuffing due to contact during assembly and it gives the eventual customer a smooth, burr-free edge,” explains Peter Philip, Agent, Saco Ltd.
Aptar’s plastic disc top closure features an anodized silver metal over-shell. New sizes are launching in July.
“Metal accents can upgrade the look of a plastic stock closure. It’s a way to create a unique, custom design using something that’s out there already. There’s no need to pay for a custom mold, and there will be a shorter lead time,” explains Anomatic’s Rusch.
One advantage plastic has over metal is functionality. When plastic parts are combined with metallized over-shells, the result is a dispensing closure with an upscale look and feel.
Aptar developed the dispensing closure shown, in new sizes launching this month. The closure has a plastic disc top, with an anodized silver metal over-shell assembled onto it.New sizes in this design have just launched. “We added the new sizes due to customer requests,” says Julianna Keklik, marketing manager, NA Beauty, Aptar. “Both the disc top closure and the anodized shroud are available in a wide range of color options,” she adds.
Aptar also offers a variety of custom dispensing closure solutions. “Our most popular requests recently have been for silver anodized closures. Different aesthetic looks can be achieved by using double or triple anodizing;
Saco produced this textured cap, and it has the supplier’s new “roll-over” edge feature.
embossing/debossing; and laser engraving, which have all been popular requests for holiday gift packaging,” Keklik explains.
Coverpla offers a range of standard caps in Surlyn, PP, Zamac and aluminum, which can all be customized using various decorating techniques. “Customizing a stock closure is an easy way to stay on budget, and we are seeing an increased interest in enhancing standard components rather than building tooling,” says Gilda Cutri, Coverpla USA.
Cameo Metal offers a large selection of metal closures in standard designs. “We have the largest selection,” says Di Maio.“Since budget is always a consideration, the majority of our clients come to us looking for high end closure solutions at an economical value, to increase the strength in their brand without impacting their pricing,” he explains.
Many types of products benefit from using an inner seal, and Bruna Seals offers one that allows a consumer to sniff a product right through the seal. It’s called Sniff Seal, and can help improve customer interaction with a product while it’s on store shelves, while also providing crucial protection that prevents product tampering.
“The scent of your product permeates through the seal,” says Bruna. “The consumer is able to sniff a ‘true scent’ of the product without opening the seal,” he adds.
An unusual design or color will attract attention, but functionality is equally important. The right type of cap—whether it’s on a luxe fragrance bottle, a plastic jar, or shampoo bottle—can improve ease of use, as well as enhance the user’s experience with the product.
Technotraf Wood Packaging, a Quadpack company, used a combination of wood and aluminum to create the cap for the fragrances in the Jean Patou Heritage collection.
The “skyline cap” created for the new fragrance, DKNY MYNY, is sure to leave a lasting first impression when consumers first pick up the bottle. The cap features a mini-replica of the NYC skyline, and it resembles a sculpture.
The fragrance’s cap was designed by the New York based artist, Curtis Kulig. Kulig is known for his iconic ‘Love Me’ campaign, which can be found on canvases, sculptures, rooftops and billboards in NYC, Los Angeles, Paris, Istanbul and Berlin. For the Fall 2013 DKNY fashion campaign, Curtis adapted his signature script to “Love NY,” which is engraved on one corner of the bottle’s cap—as if it is on the roof of a building.
More Sculptured Shapes
Other brands, in addition to DKNY, are creating caps in sculptured shapes that resemble art—or flowers. Oscar de la Renta’s Dusting Powder has a finial on the top of its cover that resembles flower petals. Lombardi Design & Manufacturing developed and produces this package for the brand.DKNY switched from its iconic apple-shaped bottle—and its smooth cap—and has replicated a 3-D sculpture of the New York City skyline to top its new fragrance, MYNY.
Other design trends, according to Albanese, are the use of decorative nameplates in place of conventional decorating techniques, as well as patterns around a cap’s outer surfaces.
“Our strength is the ability to translate our customer’s creativity into physical parts that are true to the design intent, while maintaining the technical requirements set forth by a brand’s engineering and package development teams,” adds Albanese.
Another design that looks almost MOMA-worthy is the stone-shaped cap created by Pujolasos Wood & Pack for the six fragrances in the collection, Sculptures Olfactives by Majda Bekkali. Tendre Est La Nuit is shown here—its cap resembles wood. “We specialize in the manufacture of luxury packaging and caps in wood, for fragrance and cosmetics,” says Angel Pujolasos Jr., industrial engineer/CEO & project manager, Pujolasos Wood & Pack.
Lombardi Design is often asked to create and decorate uniquely shaped caps, like this elegant one produced for Oscar de la Renta’s dusting powder.
The caps feature a combination of wood and metal. Technotraf integrated an aluminum cap, anodized in gold, which has an outer sheath of dark beech wood. There is also a ring on the neck of each bottle, which is decorated in the same metal treatment.
Popular Colors for Caps
We’ve seen Pantone’s trends—like Radiant Orchid—making a splash for cosmetics and packaging. Are trendy, bold or unexpected hues being chosen for caps?“On shelf, you always want something that will catch the consumer’s eye,” says Chuck Mitchell, vice president of sales, Colt’s Plastics Company, Inc. “A plastic cap in a unique color is one way to achieve a stand-out look and ‘brand’ a product, and it’s something that we have seen a lot of interest in,” he adds.
Pureology has made its signature flat caps purple for its new launch, the Strength Cure hair care collection. The caps allow the conditioner bottle to stand upside down, tottle-style. The brand has been using this unique shape for its bottles and caps since it enlisted the help of designer Robert Bergmannto redesign its packaging in 2012, and
PujolasosWood & Pack produced the round caps which are made from wood and resemble sculptures, for the women’s fragrance Tendre Est La Nuit by Majda Bekkali Sculptures Olfactives.
“The new look has been very well received by our salon partners, but even better received is its eco-friendly feature—our bottles and caps are made with 50% recycled materials, and the no-waste design allows you to use every drop of product,” says Amanda Lehner, spokesperson for the brand. (Read more about Pureology’s Zero Waste Shampoo and Conditioner packaging at BeautyPackaging.com).
On metal, there’s one unique way to reinterpret a trendy pink hue—use a rose gold finish. Cameo Metal is a supplier that offers this sophisticated look. The company specializes in translating decorating techniques from the jewelry world, and using them to create luxury metal caps and packaging for fragrances and beauty products.
“Rose gold has been all the rage right now—in various shades,” says Anthony Di Maio, chief operating officer, Cameo Metal Products, Inc. “Our customers love our jewelry-like polishing techniques with the Rose Gold coloring. We’ve been told it can make a package seem to ‘jump’ off shelves, since it’s a trendy look that really stands out,” he adds.
Pureology’s signature flat caps, an innovative functional design that is also eco-friendly, are now colored purple for the brand’s new launch, the Strength Cure collection.
Aqua Spa is one brand using caps that are sprayed silver, for its bath salts. The product, in its bathroom-friendly plastic jar, is sold in mass-market stores, but its design looks “masstige.”
“We chose silver lids to make sure the brand stands out in the sea of white packaging typically found on shelf in mass market,” says Kristi Moe, brand manager, Aqua Spa. “Our goal is to create packaging that looks luxurious and modern to give users the feel of using spa products, without the spa process,” she adds.
The silver color was achieved using a pearlized silver and custom silver PMS color. “The upscale effect mimics metallic, while avoiding any issues actual metallic packaging may have with rust stains,” Moe explains.
Executing Luxe Designs Cost-Effectively
Creating a unique design concept for a cap may be crucial for branding and marketing purposes—but finding a way to execute a package designer’s vision within budget constraints is more important.A new technology Anomatic is developing has the ability to create square metal caps with sharper corners. “This can be a way to give a cap a more luxe look, for both the prestige and masstige markets. It will stand out among the more common designs that have rounded edges,” explains Rusch.
Aqua Spa chose a plastic cap that is sprayed with a matte silver finish, to give its bath salts a more luxe look.
The team at Anomatic was recently assigned the task of producing the cap for Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Serum.
“There are two highly textured bands that go around the cap 360 degrees,” says Rusch. The textured bands, which resemble stripes, stand out against the gold cap’s smooth shiny finish.
“We were able to incorporate the fabrication of the bands right into the fabrication of the part,” explains Rusch.
More Textured Looks, Plus a Protective Feature
When developing the cap for Estée Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair, Anomatic was able to incorporate the fabrication of its decorative bands into the part, so a secondary manufacturing process wasn’t necessary.
“The ‘roll over’ edge hides the edge of the inner cap—but it provides more than just aesthetic benefits. It protects part-on-part scuffing due to contact during assembly and it gives the eventual customer a smooth, burr-free edge,” explains Peter Philip, Agent, Saco Ltd.
Combining Materials & Customizing Stock Closures
Using metal accents, rather than full metal, is another way to upgrade the look of a cap, while staying within budget and time constraints.Aptar’s plastic disc top closure features an anodized silver metal over-shell. New sizes are launching in July.
One advantage plastic has over metal is functionality. When plastic parts are combined with metallized over-shells, the result is a dispensing closure with an upscale look and feel.
Aptar developed the dispensing closure shown, in new sizes launching this month. The closure has a plastic disc top, with an anodized silver metal over-shell assembled onto it.New sizes in this design have just launched. “We added the new sizes due to customer requests,” says Julianna Keklik, marketing manager, NA Beauty, Aptar. “Both the disc top closure and the anodized shroud are available in a wide range of color options,” she adds.
Aptar also offers a variety of custom dispensing closure solutions. “Our most popular requests recently have been for silver anodized closures. Different aesthetic looks can be achieved by using double or triple anodizing;
Saco produced this textured cap, and it has the supplier’s new “roll-over” edge feature.
Coverpla offers a range of standard caps in Surlyn, PP, Zamac and aluminum, which can all be customized using various decorating techniques. “Customizing a stock closure is an easy way to stay on budget, and we are seeing an increased interest in enhancing standard components rather than building tooling,” says Gilda Cutri, Coverpla USA.
Cameo Metal offers a large selection of metal closures in standard designs. “We have the largest selection,” says Di Maio.“Since budget is always a consideration, the majority of our clients come to us looking for high end closure solutions at an economical value, to increase the strength in their brand without impacting their pricing,” he explains.
Final Design Decision—Do You Need an Inner Seal?
You may have decided on a cap, but don’t forget the inner seal, advises Juan Bruna, president of BrunaSeals.Many types of products benefit from using an inner seal, and Bruna Seals offers one that allows a consumer to sniff a product right through the seal. It’s called Sniff Seal, and can help improve customer interaction with a product while it’s on store shelves, while also providing crucial protection that prevents product tampering.
“The scent of your product permeates through the seal,” says Bruna. “The consumer is able to sniff a ‘true scent’ of the product without opening the seal,” he adds.
