Food & Design: Entry 1 of 2, Counter-top design

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

The average housewife or stay-at-home mom has changed greatly in the last 50 years. Before, women were expected to always keep the house scrubbed and clean. Now, women are happy if things are just organized and tidied up. The pace of our lives has sped up and we are all trying to fit more into our 24 hours.

In the 1950s, women wouldn’t dream of having their cleaning product in the line of sight for others to see. Today, Clorox is trying to change the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. Clorox, through their redesign of their disinfecting wipes is pushing the question, “Why wouldn’t you want others to see your cleaning products?”

DESIGNING FOR YOUR TARGET MARKET

The Dieline quoted Clorox’s project objectives for the redesign by saying that the packaging had to be an “original design so beautiful that the consumer doesn’t hesitate to leave them out.”  How ingenious?!  Not only would this likely have the consumer using the product more frequently, the product would look good…part of the home decor!  Keeping this utilitarian art decor in every room will give mom the opportunity to ’swipe and wipe’ the room as they go about their daily routines.  What a great selling point!

If mothers kept this product out and” did a wipe as I go”, they could save time overall on their weekly cleaning, time which is already being stretched.  We are always looking to quicken our daily chores and squeeze more pleasurable activities into our day.  This package design that may encourage mom to swipe more often, will create a cleaner environment for the children as well.

ART WORK
Like Kleenex, customers are promoted to “Redesign Clean” their own box via Clorox’s new website.  This bring more people to the site, and keeps this cleaning product out in the open.  This once hidden product becomes a frame or a showcase for one’s personal creative designs.

HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?
Clorox’s design does pose the question – how much of our once closeted products do we design to show others? Where do we draw the line?  Take the example of the washing machine.  Before, there was one standard color that everyone had to take…white.  Why?  Because no one was going to:

a) see the laundry room

b) ascetically design their laundry area to fit the design scheme of the washing machine

But times have changed.  Consumers can buy their Maytag in blue, orange, or yellow.  How far will this go?  Will our heat pumps be next?  Will we need to design a more beautiful heat pump, so we can position it next to our front door for all of our neighbors to see?

LAST THOUGHT
As an end note, I think Clorox is doing something that will help moms across the nation.  Personally, this will encourage me, not only to use these wipes more often because they will be out, but also, to continuously buy the wipes.  It is now a “piece of art” in my rooms.  When I run out, I throw away art but I need something to replace the dead space in that room with my next new design.  In addition, using the wipes will be part of my routine.  Routine develops into habit, habit grows into behavior.

Questions to ask when developing packaging for home goods

Alexandra Gergar graduates from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in marketing and finance.  Cooking since she was a child, she now  has a food blog called Lemons in Water.

Product design is a conversation with your audience, why not blog in the same manner?

Follow me on Twitter: AlexGergar

Food & Design: Entry 1 of 2, Counter-top design

SPRING CLEANING

It’s nearing the end of winter here in the northeast, and that means Spring Cleaning is upon us. As the weather gets warmer, new cleaning products are popping up to be used in apartments and homes across the region. Perhaps this was Clorox’s intent when it hired design team Brand Engine. The “counter top” design that Kleenex implemented raises an interesting question about up and coming trends: will common mundane products try to push out from beneath the cabinets?

IS THIS THE START OF SOMETHING NEW?
Like the cleaning products, during the winter I also keep a box of Kleenex on my counter around the apartment.  When I saw the new designs for the Clorox box I automatically thought of the Kleenex box and the “counter top” design that they revolutionized.  Like what Clorox is doing currently, Kleenex has already entered into the realm of redesigning their box.  Customizing the box’s exterior, Kleenex was able to meet the hidden needs of their customers as well as provide some aesthetic variety on this necessary household item.

KLEENEX, THE BRAND AND DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

The product design of America’s favorite facial tissue is also a piece of art-work.  Other than being aesthetically pleasing, there are many reasons for a well designed label.  In the late 1960s Kleenex designed their BOUTIQUE issue.  This was Kleenex’s first major designed-focus box.  It was a simple style, but strayed away from past non-pictorial coverings.  Three decades later, EXPRESSIONS was introduced and hailed as the “first introduction of designer graphics” on the Kleenex brand.  Now, EXPRESSIONS can be purchased anywhere, and there is even a website where consumers can design their own box. This website further promotes the customer driven market behavior that Clorox is now trying to recreate with their disposable wipes.

This idea presents some interesting questions on the trends of home product design:

• Are common household items becoming more than just utilities?
  
• Are our facial tissues and cleaning products becoming more than just a product to be used?
• Are they now an art piece?

More on this functional counter-top artwork in next week’s article.

Alexandra Gergar graduates from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in marketing and finance.  Cooking since she was a child, she now  has a food blog called Lemons in Water.

Product design is a conversation with your audience, why not blog in the same manner?

Alex Gergar
Follow me on Twitter: AlexGergar