Delightful design

Delightful design

Packaging Today reaches out to Simon Wright, managing director of Greenwich Design, to discover the key drivers in luxury packaging design.

What are the key drivers behind the development of luxury packaging?

Simon Wright: The key drivers have not changed for a long time. Developments in luxury packaging tend to be driven by the usual suspects that are always packaged beautifully: high-end chocolates, the top-shelf drinks market, heritage brands like Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, privately owned brands, and small, niche markets within self-care sectors like toiletries.

Luxury packaging is certainly not driven by the economic climate. Even in a recession, there will always be a desire for high-quality luxury packaging, because no matter how hard times are for the general public, there are always those wealthy enough to spend on luxury.

As a designer, one of the best things about working on luxury packaging is that you have more freedom with how you use space. Rather than having lots of text everywhere, you can allow things to breathe – less is definitely more. It is about discovery; about creating a pack that slowly draws you in. It may look very simple from a distance but, as you get closer, there may be a texture, shape or foil, for example, that starts to tell the bigger story.

Are there any examples of luxury packaging you can point to that show particular innovation?

Sometimes, it is less about showing innovation and more about creating really beautiful packs that make you think, “That is stunning.” I still remember the packaging from The Kobe, Kobe Bryant’s signature Adidas shoe, which came in a box with a drawer that slid out so that you could see the shoe colour before opening up the shoe box. Once you took the shoes out, you discovered a picture of Kobe grinning. For me, that still stands out as memorable, even though it was more than 15 years ago.

Cleverly placed graphics can be just as appealing as the packaging itself. Take well-designed tote bags that make the user become part of the experience – I have seen examples where, when you carry them, they make you look like you are wearing a dress, carrying a gun or tool kit, or even hatching from a dinosaur egg. It’s clever and speaks volumes about the brand. I regard that as luxury.

How important are security measures across luxury packaging? Are there any particularly important innovations?

Security is massively important for luxury brands; this is an area that is moving so fast that luxury packaging companies actually have a clear advantage over premium brands. With counterfeiting, we are talking about an industry that is costing brands billions. Because counterfeiting has become such a huge issue for luxury brands like Gucci, there are already plenty of developments in this area. But counterfeiters are increasingly sophisticated, to the point where it is almost impossible to distinguish the genuine packaging and product from the fake.

Brands are countering this by printing on special papers, using materials that are harder to counterfeit and introducing new technology. It is becoming more common to incorporate anti-counterfeiting devices such as QR codes and specialist counterfeit mechanisms – even markers in products. Of course, there is also more attention being paid to the distribution chain by brands to ensure consumers aren’t paying full price for counterfeit products. Ironically, the counterfeit business is booming, with many consumers quite happy in the knowledge that they are buying fakes!

Luxury means different things to different generations. How are brands ensuring that their luxury brands appeal to the widest possible audience?

I think there are certain products that everyone would regard as luxury – certain perfumes, high-end chocolates, top-of-the-range whiskey. The world is becoming a bit smaller, and those things that were once considered the trappings of the ultra-rich have started to become more accessible to people, so at the top end of the market, things are having to be redesigned and repackaged to justify their luxury price tag. This is what often helps a luxury brand differentiate itself from a premium brand.

For me, the best luxury packaging is both beautiful and functional beyond its initial job of simply protecting and delivering the product. If it can have a life afterwards, whether as a piece of art or as a receptacle to keep something in, it adds to the pleasure and purpose of the packaging. 

How is the drive to protect the environment influencing luxury packaging design and manufacture?

As with any market, luxury brands will have their own environmental policies and will choose options that reflect their brand design, budget and production run. A brand like Selfridges, for example, which uses bright yellow packaging, will have to tackle the challenges that come from finding environmentally friendly ink that adheres at least to local legislation – yellow is well known to include pigments that contain heavy metals. However, a luxury brand that is producing a smaller run than mass production – 5–5,000 pieces, say – will have far more options than a premium product that is sold in the millions.

When we designed the packaging for Therapie, a high end aromatherapy range, we were able to source a bespoke bottle that actually took into account external environmental factors that may damage the product. The glass bottle was a very specific shade of violet designed to protect the contents of the bottle from the sun’s rays.

Could you briefly explain how an example of your luxury packaging was developed?

Michelle Roques-O’Neil, one of the world’s top ten aromatherapists, approached us to design the brand and packaging for her new luxury aromatherapy product range. The packaging had to provide a point of difference to all the other high-end products available, demonstrate Roques-O’Neil’s credibility and connect with her target audience at an emotional level. We were tasked with creating a design that appealed to both men and women and that would look good anywhere, from bathroom shelf, to high-end department store, to luxury spa.

Part of our brief included sourcing a bespoke bottle to match the high value of the product, and to help it stand out from anything else in its sector. Our design concepts stemmed from a wide range of inspirations, including old apothecaries, Damien Hirst and the Summer of Love – but the one Roques-O’Neil was drawn to was a Therapie logo that fused the initial letter ‘T’ into the body of a butterfly, with the bright colour of the wings (based on chakras – the centres of spiritual power in the human body) differing by product to make the range easy to navigate. I wanted to keep the design as clean as possible, and one of the biggest challenges was convincing her to let the design breathe and minimise the copy on the bottle itself.

Ultimately, we achieved our goal of distilling the essence of Roques-O’Neil’s thinking and personality into a distinct visual identity and packaging for Therapie that allowed it to stand out in a highly competitive marketplace. It must have worked as we now find ourselves helping other brands trying to achieve the same.

What does the future of luxury packaging look like, in your view?

The same way as it always has. When you look at Chanel packaging, nothing has dramatically changed over the years – that is part of what defines a luxury brand. They don’t have to reinvent themselves all the time – shoppers want heritage and tradition. When you look at some of the most successful pieces of packaging, tin cans for example, they haven’t really changed for over 50 years, other than perhaps the addition of the pull hook to make opening them easier.

That is not to say that luxury brands shouldn’t be aware of innovations and use them where they really add to the aesthetic of a product, but some of the packaging innovations I have seen recently, from bottles that light up to packs that have the technology to create a lighting effect or play a specific tune when scanned, would just seem too gimmicky, at least at this moment in time. That may change. This is what makes design so inspiring.

Personally, I am inspired by the beautiful simplicity of Japanese design. The book How to Wrap Five Eggs features some simple but aesthetically pleasing examples of traditional Japanese packaging that often combine the element of ‘less is more’ with a feeling of discovery. Quite often, the most appealing packaging can say ‘luxury’ without being overtly luxurious at all.