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Tay clean and pure

by Tiana Spellman on 02/02/2012 | 3 Minute Read

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The line marries luxury with modern design - resulting in a finely tuned collection of eight essential skincare items. The handsome, simple packaging is minimalist; a blend of masculine and feminine and incorporates 100% eco-friendly bamboo for the aesthetically minded consumer. 

Coming from a creative background, Sarah melded the fields of art and design - mediums she had previously employed - and worked to create a modern look with today’s desire of natural resources; thus each TAY product incorporates 100% bamboo and recyclable PET plastic. Each signature TAY bottles are designed to be objects d’art; a blend of masculine and feminine aesthetic, capturing the true essence of bamboo and combining it with a minimalist, unisex flowering vine.

Designer Sarah Tay was kind enough to answer a few questions for us below.

How did you come up with your packaging concept? 

My personal design aesthetic revolves around textures. I've always been a hands-on kind of designer and find inspiration whether I'm walking down the street in my own neighborhood or exploring other countries. My friends laugh at me because by the end of the day, my knapsack is full of all sorts of junk: kitschy drugstore purchases, flyers, interesting plants I might have seen on the sidewalk, etc. In concepting the packaging for TAY, I wanted to be sure that anyone who picks up and feels one of my bottles instantly knows that they should expect something special inside.

Why was bamboo chosen as the packaging material?

After some experimentation, it quickly became clear to me that bamboo was the perfect match for the collection. Bamboo is known for having inherent anti-microbial properties. This fit the packaging standards for a personal care product that is likely come into contact with water.  The bamboo containers are also well-suited to protect the skincare formulas that I created, which use rare, high-grade ingredients. Because of the quality of the essential oils, they tend to be more susceptible to sun damage. The bamboo sheath provides a protective layer to house the formulas in a "dark" environment. It is also important to me that bamboo is a renewable resource. When I traveled to Asia, it was amazing to see massive bamboo forests that could be harvested almost on a daily basis.

What processes were used in the making of your packaging?

The process was really a test of innovation and endurance.  I believe it's the first-of-its-kind and it took many trials to get it to the final format. 70% of the bottle is worked by hand and no two bottles look exactly the same. The front and back labels are etched on the bamboo bottles themselves and use no ink in the process. The only ink that's used is on the underside, where product information and the UPC code is printed on a stone-paper medium. I had to give in a little, because I figured that no checkout scanner would be able to detect an etched UPC code.

Sarah is an award-winning creative director and founder of TAY.

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