Featured image for Henry Rose's Packaging Hides Nothing

Henry Rose's Packaging Hides Nothing

by Shawn Binder on 04/06/2020 | 3 Minute Read

Looks like we're going to have to remember Michelle Pfeiffer for something other than her iconic roles such as Cat Woman. The packaging for Henry Rose fragrances is a stunning exercise in minimalism that utilizes two fonts that work in harmony with the bottle's unique tops to give it luxurious and transparent feel. The placement of the brand's name on the back of the bottle, so it can peek through the front, is a further nod to the brand's commitment to transparency in their ingredients. 

Henry Rose is the first fine fragrance line with 100% ingredient transparency. Created by Michelle Pfeiffer, the gender-neutral line comprised of five distinct scents, is the result of Michelle’s nearly decade-long pursuit to develop a luxury, clean fragrance brand. Historically, perfume has been the least transparent beauty and personal care category. The majority of perfume bottles list “fragrance” as the sole ingredient, but realistically “fragrance” can consist of 3,000 different additives. Throughout the development of Henry Rose, Michelle would often refer to this standard industry practice as a “black box” wherein consumers had no idea what was going into a product they apply intimately to their skin. Our design direction was to “hide nothing”, creating an interplay between transparency and sensuality. We worked with Michelle and her small team to balance familiarity with desire throughout the design system, including the bottle design itself as well as the shipper packaging.

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The bottle very intentionally plays with the idea of transparency. Placing the brand mark on the rear of the bottle allows the glass and liquid to act as a lens, creating a compelling read that evolves when viewed from different angles.

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Layering the fragrance name in front of the brand is a nod to the ideal that Henry Rose is a product first business, and the brand was built to both complement and elevate that idea.

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The bottle is manufactured from 90% recycled glass, the cap is manufactured from a renewable, soy-based resin, and the inks used on the bottle are organic.

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The unboxing experience for Henry Rose is a study in revealing while concealing.
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The design is purposefully reductive; there is no additional, decorative box within the shipper.
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Materials for the bottle were sourced to have the least impact on the environment as possible. The production line runs on renewable energy.

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The card insert introduces a sliver of the scent story that comes into full view as it's removed from the sleeve.
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