RPC colour technology adds packaging gloss

RPC were commissioned to produce the packaging for the company's new Color Fever Gloss range, with a requirement that the packaging design reflected the luxurious gloss finish the 20 different colours in this lipshine range are marketed around. Bearing this in mind, RPC had to come up with packaging that reflected the individual shade of each product in the range, as well conveying its all-important gloss effect - all in a design that would differentiate the line and give it prominence amongst the intense competition in this category. In response to this criteria, the resulting design incorporates a vial, collar and cap, incorporating technologies such as bi-injection, overmoulding, sonic welding, and one of the company's newest technologies, partial electroplating. The gloss vial is injected in copolyester, featuring a strong geometric shape despite significant variations in the thickness of the wall - a design feature that proved to be technically challenging. To incorporate the Lancôme logo, the surface of the vial has been hot stamped, then the logo has been overprinted with a clear tampo print that ensures it will not be damaged or rubbed off. A metallic-look finish has become a prerequisite for colour cosmetic products, helping to lend the product an image that positions it further up the marketing scale, towards the luxury end of the market. In response to this, the packaging design has incorporated a metallic-looking collar, with a neck that incorporates a bi-injection moulded from two different polymers and submitted to a partial electroplating process that the company claims is unique. This finish creates both a translucency and a metallic effect in unison, which the company claims is both unique and also helps to give it a quality of finish that no other similar technique can match. Finally, the company says that the packaging is being produced using fully automated lines that incorporate cameras and tests for air-tightness, steps that aim to ensure zero defects.