Before Neenah Packaging could unveil its new Luxury Box Wrap papers with designers and brand managers, it first needed a way to present the immense collection, and highlight the extensive customization that is the cornerstone of this portfolio.
Washington DC-based Design Army, the creators of some of Neenah Packaging’s most popular promotions including the Character and ON promotions, took on the task of summarizing and organizing the elevated line of packaging papers for national and multi-national retail, beauty, alcohol, electronics and entertainment media brands into a specification tool. The goal was to create a book with a visual system that would help designers not only see the breadth of this offering, but also inspire them to create their own designs.
Creative Director Pum Lefebure’s design approach was to lay the book out as simply as possible. She developed four descriptive umbrellas to categorize the papers: Metallics, Soft Touch, Luxe Leather, and Fine Leather & Linen. These categories make up the four separate waterfalls that appear in the book. “Our job was to look at the whole collection, break it down into color palettes, and create an organizational structure that would appeal to designers. Then, we had the task to assemble it all into a single, comprehensive, and easy to understand, book. As designers, we are always thinking about time, working against time, and running out of time, so we look for tools that are quick make the process easy,” said Lefebure.
Showcasing the immensity of Neenah Packaging’s Luxury Box Wrap collection was not an easy undertaking according to Lefebure. This line has an extensive library of embossings including realistic metal-like finishes, authentic-looking fine leathers and high-end exotic skins with dozens of finishing options in between.
Lefebure says she selected the colors for the waterfalls from a designer’s point of view, “Would I specify that color, does that color help me visualize the customizable options?” The book is organized in three steps: You first select a color, then you select an embossing pattern, then you decide if you want to further enhance the design with a print pattern or specialty finish.
“When designing packaging, we have to leave the computer and look at papers, we have to feel the texture and react to it like customers do. It’s our job to create the experience, so we must know what that experience will be. We used that same philosophy with the book. This book is thick, it feels like a box, and the box on the cover presents three different papers, so you have this textural experience right from the start. Then you open the book and you have this unboxing moment when the colors and textures are revealed,” she said.
The Neenah Box Wrap Luxury Packaging Solutions specification book is the introduction to the new collection of one-of-a-kind papers. This collection is about building unique designs with colors and embossings, or moving beyond the book to create a one of a kind custom design. This book is part of a two-book specification program for Neenah Packaging’s that also includes Premium Box Wrap papers. Contact your local Neenah Packaging rep to request a special presentation of the new books.
Client: Neenah Packaging
Design, Production and Copywriting: Design Army, Washington, DC
Prepress and Printing: Fey Printing, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
