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