Design Distinction : SPACE YOTA
Juror Valerie Aurilio praised the container for Yota Watchworks’ Space Yota as “the package that keeps on giving.” The Jetsons-like concept by Studio 11211 of Santa Monica, Calif., celebrates the whimsical product while providing a secondary use for the containers. Within a sturdy cardboard box, the watch is encased in a spaceship wind-up toy. Press the toy’s big red button, and the bubble-shaped plastic top opens to reveal the watch; a top on the spaceship’s tail fin spins when wound, and wheels on the bottom give it mobility. “The colors and illustration style invite you to come and look at it, and then you’re rewarded by a toy that’s also a package,” Will Miller noted. “It’s a beautifully executed concept with no scrimping on details.”
CLIENT Yota Watchworks, New YorkDESIGNStudio 11211 Inc., Santa Monica, Calif.: Anne Herlihy, principal/design directorMATERIALS | FABRICATION Tooled tin with molded plastic parts in printed, wrapped box
DISH
Most consumers have become accustomed to turning bottles upside down to eke out the last drops of dishwashing liquid. But a new packaging design by Karim Rashid puts the spout on the bottom, eliminating that irksome step. Shaped like a blobby bowling pin, the injection-molded polyethylene bottle holds Dish, a new biodegradable, nontoxic dish soap by San Francisco-based Method Home. After much testing, designer and client settled on four fashionable liquid colors and scents-mint, mandarin, cucumber and lavender-for “the dish butler,” so nicknamed because it stands attentively at the sink. Jurors called the design “fun and engaging,” and Miller remarked, “It has a friendly shape you want to touch. It answers a lot of needs in a simple, intuitive package.”
CLIENT Method Home, San Francisco: Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry, principalsDESIGN Karim Rashid, New York: Karim Rashid, principal and industrial designer; Joshua Handy, product directorMATERIALS | FABRICATION Injection-molded polyethyleneSOFTWARE Solidworks 2001 Plus
ANARCHIVE 2: DIGITAL SNOW
An interactive application and an educational tool, Digital Snow explores the work of Michael Snow, a contemporary artist and experimental filmmaker. In contrast to Snow’s computer-generated work, the packaging-which is essentially a book-is entirely handmade. Designers at Epoxy Communications of Montreal say the paper took two weeks to prepare. First, they found and recycled old plates in an industrial print shop. Then they randomly fed the sheets, ream by ream, through a six-color process. Miller praised the book’s minimal form, the sense of discovery and the tactility of unfolding the layers, saying, “I love the discipline that went into it. You have to get out of it what it offers and commit a part of yourself in advance of picking it up.”
CLIENT La Fondation Daniel Langlois and Epoxy Communications, MontrealDESIGN Epoxy Communications, Montreal: Daniel Fortin, president and creative director
BEVERAGE FOUR-PACK
Brother-sister team Meni and Vered Keinan of Hebron, Israel, created proprietary packaging for four beverage bottles using thin, vacuum-formed plastic that feels like leather. The designers say the dark-pink and black packaging is intended for female consumers, with a provocative, formfitting look that simultaneously hides and reveals the contents. Both jurors appreciated the urban color palette, as well as the formal simplicity, noting that the packaging isn’t overthought or overproduced. “It’s an incredible innovation that celebrates the form of the bottles,” Aurilio said. “There’s sensual strength in the color combination.”
CLIENT | DESIGN Meni Keinan and Vered Keinan, Hebron, IsraelMATERIALS | FABRICATION Vacuum-formed plastic
PERFUME09
Jurors described the shatterproof travel version of the iconic 2001 spacescent bottle as “ingenious, efficient, cost-effective packaging.” Designed by fuseproject’s Yves Behar for San Francisco client Haasprojekt, the one-piece-construction container for Perfume09 is made of low-durometer polyurethane with a glass inset. The bottle’s red foam packaging is thematically and visually related to the original spacescent bottle, which was intended as a large, sculptural vessel for the oil. In this miniature version, the flacon sits comfortably in the hand or on a surface, thanks to a flat spot. “No spray function is true to the travel notion,” noted Aurilio, who also appreciated that the cap doesn’t disconnect from the bottle. “There’s a sense of preciousness to it, and everything is well-executed down to the tiniest details.”
CLIENT Haasprojekt, San FranciscoDESIGN fuseproject, San Francisco: Yves Behar, creative director and principal designer; Johan Liden, senior designer
ISSEY IN YOUR POCKET
As the product’s name suggests, the packaging for the scaled-down version of Issey Miyake’s perfume, l’Eau d’Issey, is intended to be a good traveling companion. Karim Rashid fabricated the seamless, smooth, rubbery object with no protruding parts or disruptive lines that might catch on the contents of a handbag. Rashid, who created the packaging for longtime client Beaute Prestige Intl. of Paris, describes the casing as “soft, engaging, flexible and squeezable.” Aurilio declared it “minimal design done well,” adding, “The form is exciting enough that you don’t have to overbrand it with supporting graphics.”
CLIENT Beaute Prestige Intl., ParisDESIGN Karim Rashid, New York: Karim Rashid, principal; Yujin Morisawa, assistant designerMATERIALS | FABRICATION Silicone rubber, polypropylene containers, polycarbonate caseSOFTWARE Formz, Solidworks