selling self-care: the importance of package design
The importance of self-care has exploded recently, and a wide variety of companies are capitalizing on the trend. From face masks to candles, books to coffee, it seems like every industry has a reason why their product is vital to practicing self-care, and the marketing to prove it to consumers. It seems like self-care has become synonymous with Donna and Tom's "Treat Yo-Self" day from Parks and Recreation, with marketing focusing on immediate gratification as the main selling point for their self-care products.
A great example of this is the skin care industry. A few years ago, choices for skincare varied from drugstore brands like Neutrogena to your mom's extensive collection of Mary Kay eye creams and moisturizers, but now skin care is trendy and an essential part of many consumers everyday routine. Beauty influencers on social media, especially Instagram and Youtube, have only helped to propel the trend and accelerate the growth of the industry. It seems like every celebrity and influencer is promoting a new skincare brand that carries an expensive and extensive product line of cleansers, moisturizers, primers, serums, face oils, eye creams, face masks, sheet masks, blemish removers and more.
In a market as saturated as skin care, it becomes essential for companies to distinguish themselves from the competition through effective positioning. A huge component of positioning in the skin care industry is package design. Consumers don't want to buy a product that will just make them beautiful, they want a product that looks beautiful itself. Skin care products don't just hide in the medicine cabinet anymore. Now they're displayed like decor on countertops and shelves.
As a result, package design is essential for the success of a skin care brand. Beautiful design for both primary and secondary packaging is essential, as consumers want to receive a product that looks beautiful in the box and while in use. It's a challenging task, but there are some champions.
Screen captures of Bliss products featured on website.
Bliss excels in providing consumers with beautiful products with beautiful names. The package design effortlessly compliments the cute product names like "mint chip mania", a facemask packaged in a minimalist tub featuring a color of blue-green that evokes both a refreshing spa and a refreshing bowl of mint chip ice cream. Bliss's packaging is cute, modern, and simple, which communicates both a sense of cleanliness and friendliness to consumers.
Screen captures from TonyMoly's website.
TonyMoly is a Korean skincare brand that has successfully exported their products globally. A huge component of their success is their innovative packaging, which perfectly balances being adorable, modern, and fun. Their product line ranges from lip balms in peach-shaped packages to "real" sheet masks which come in a variety of scents from peach to honey to green tea. Since their packaging is so unique, TonyMoly products are positioned almost as collector items in addition to skin care products. While other brands also offer sheet masks and lip balms, it'd be difficult to find a brand that packages them so adorably, giving TonyMoly a considerable advantage.
Screen capture from Glossier website.
Glossier is perhaps the most well-known skincare brand after they exploded into the beauty community a couple years ago. Their packaging is minimal and contemporary, with just a little touch of femininity. Beauty influencers helped propel the brand into the spotlight thanks to its photogenic packaging, which made a splash on Instagram. Although Glossier certainly took visual cues from many Korean skin care brands which have had minimalist packaging for years, Glossier was able to translate the minimalist aesthetic to an American market in a fresh and exciting way.
If package design of self-care and skin care products interests you as much as it interests me, there's lots of blogs and articles to dive deeper! Beauty Packaging is a blog that focuses entirely on package design in the beauty industry, and Behance is a great resource for package design inspiration from designers all over the world.
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