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BI: Why was making a design statement so important for a product like Metromint?
RM: I thought the product was so very different from others. But in order for us to stand out on the shelf, we had to have stunning, eye-opening packaging to appeal to the audience. To bring out the uniqueness of the beverage, we had to have outside-the-box thinking in the design.
BI: What was the genesis of the Metromint design?
RM: I wasn’t in the beverage industry. So because I didn’t know anything at the time, I decided to make what I thought was the perfect bottle. What wasn’t out there at the time were the enormous labels on the water – it was just a banner. But we made our label really tall – it’s the tallest a machine could apply to the bottle. I really wanted a tall, skinny, big label. The dots came into play later on. I was sketching every day, and I wanted some sort of pattern so the customer could really memorize what it was. I also wanted to focus on the future in the design. I wanted it to really have a cutting edge pattern – I tied it in with a pattern that was cool and cutting edge and timeless.
BI: What kind of design background did you bring to the industry?
RM: I was in the design industry in Japan; I used to be a jewelry designer, specializing in pearls. I’ve been sketching since I was born. I read lots of design magazines, but I’m not really inspired by them. I admire painters, but when it comes down to product design, ideas have always just hit me after 10 p.m.
BI: What can design do for a packaged beverage?
RM: The beverage industry is so saturated everywhere you go – the shelf is totally, totally saturated. If you don’t scream with the packaging, no one really notices it – we have a three second window to make the consumer choose it.
BI: What are the key design points of the bottle?
RM: Some elements are totally Japanese, like the funky, generic approach of the design, and there are some amazing elements of minimalism. And being really meticulous about things – when I talk about dots, I have a thing about dots – they have to be this diameter, this amount of spacing, the color has to be this color.
Packaging Briefs
Americhem has opened a new packaging design center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. The facility includes a sampling room with bottles form across the color spectrum and the capacity to produce more than 20 samples while a client waits.
Ball Corporation is installing a new 24 oz. aluminum beverage can production line in its Monticello, Ind. can plant. The new line installation is expected to be complete in time for the 2008 summer sales period.
Graham packaging has won two international awards from the World Packaging Organization in Stockholm, for a 64 oz. rectangular PET plastic apple juice bottle for Tree Top, Inc. and for its relaunch of the classic 10 oz. S. Martinelli & Co. plastic apple juice bottle.
Graphic Packaging Corp. has launched a new set of paperboard package enhancements that integrate package billboards with mobile technology. Using the new technology, consumers can use camera-equipped cell phones to scan on-pack graphics and codes to access in-store promotions, download songs, or participate in loyalty programs.
Liquid Health Labs Inc. has won a 2007 Frost & Sullivan Vendor of The Year Award in recognition of its unique services to the North American beverage market for its PowerCap technology.