Geoffrey cook, a partner at Base Design in New York sent in this interesting story about some Fred Segal packaging that almost happened:
“On October 8th, 2008, WWD reported that one of Los Angeles’ top
salons and our long time client, Fred Segal Beauty, would be closing
its doors after 16 years of business. WWD stated that owners, Michael Baruch and Paul DéArmas had filed a lawsuit claiming that:
‘… Fred and Michael Segal rebuffed plans by Baruch and DéArmas to
open a second space adjacent to the Fred Segal location on Melrose
Avenue and to establish a branded product line, after initial
assurances they could proceed.’
The product line in question was to be an innovative, 18-piece
haircare line. We had handled the design of all packaging,
collaborating with Zorbit who was responsible for product engineering
and, should the line have continued, production.
In developing the line, we put into question the fundamental rules
observed all beauty companies. ‘You MUST put the logo on the front of
the bottle,’ we were told. Why? As Martin Margiela has proven with his
appropriation of the color white, or Burberry with its distinctive
plaid, logomarks today are not the only way to convey a brand message.
In the case of Fred Segal Beauty, we utilized their distinctive, trippy
red and blue stripes as a spring board to develop individual stripe
patterns for each package…a grueling job to say the least!
With Zorbit, we sourced beautiful, supple, matte white bottles, jars
and tubes. We printed the individual striped patterns high gloss,
creating a juxtaposition between the two. All practical information
including the logo, product information, and ingredients were placed on
the back.
Though everyone involved was quite disappointed with the unfortunate
turn of events the project took, we look forward to hearing what
Michael and Paul, two of the beauty industry’s most respected
entrepreneurs, will do for an encore.”
Two more after the jump.
