Branding agency Seymourpowell has created the new aerosol body spray can, Icon2, for Unilever’s personal care brand Axe (‘Lynx’ in the UK).
London-based Seymourpowell designed the existing Axe aerosol can, Neutron, in 2005, but according to the company, there was “an emergent need to stay ahead of the competition by securing the design for the next generation of body sprays”.
Ketan Mistry, senior designer at Seymourpowell, explains: “Delivering a new iconic form for an established brand such as Axe/Lynx was always going to be difficult, especially when the existing (Neutron) pack has been so successful.
“The desire to make this product more engaging than any other pack on the market and conform to the Axe/Lynx brand DNA was the real challenge”.
The newly designed “uniquely round to square” can is described by Seymourpowell as “very pure, visually simple and, above all, confident”.
Design for Icon2 is informed by current trends in design for consoles, gaming, mobiles and MP3 players, the company says: “Axe Icon2’s form is purer, more monolithic and sophisticated.”
The new can, Seymourpowell says, develops the “existing emotional qualities of Axe – humour, sexual attraction and masculinity”, and expresses them in the physical form, using a development of the original ‘Neutron’ can twist action.
When not in use, the button on Icon2 is flush with the top, and the action is locked, to avoid unintentional activation.
“Twisting the top engages a sophisticated ‘mechanical ballet’ of movement, which lifts the button up and then inclines it backwards into the ready to use position,” the design company says.
As the button rises, it reveals a flash of colour specific to the Axe variant, with a movement described as “practical, but also intriguing”, giving the product “a sense of fascination, delight, playfulness and emotional engagement”, which are “at the heart of the Axe brand”.
Icon2 aims to give the Axe brand a quality, more premium feel, “more precise and robust in the hand, with a reassuring solidity consistent with a more premium product”.
“Our new sophisticated, monolithic pack absolutely embodies our brand values, and will become the brand’s unique signature,” says Michal Berski, Axe global brand manager at Unilever.
www.seymourpowell.com
