Student Week: Laura Gallous's Visionary Packaging for OWN Skin Care
by Chloe Gordon on 08/31/2023 | 3 Minute Read
Laura Gallous's packaging design for OWN Skin Care captures the essence of Sarah Sherman Samuel's design philosophy, where nature's influence blends with refined aesthetics. The bottle forms are functional art pieces, echoing Samuel's delicate balance between raw and polished elements. Constructed from sustainable materials, the bottles harmonize form and function, reflecting the fluid lines present in Samuel's designs. The display, crafted from natural wood with copper accents, encapsulates the brand's essence, bridging the gap between beauty and imperfection, much like Samuel's wabi-sabi approach.
BACKGROUND This student project encompasses both branding and packaging design for a conceptual skin care line for Sarah Sherman Samuel, Principal Interior Designer and founder of Sarah Sherman Samuel Design. Sarah’s interior design, furniture design, and artwork are often inspired by nature. She beautifully juxtaposes the raw with the refined and polished, infusing the architecture and structure of her designs with a bit of whimsy. Sarah utilizes a wabi-wabi approach to tell the unique story of each individual client she works with.
BRANDING With all of this in mind, the skin care line, OWN, was conceptualized for Sarah Sherman Samuel with the idea that she could expand her multidisciplinary design brand in a way that would appeal to her target audience, but resonate with her existing brand values. The name OWN echoes Sarah’s design ethos and resonates with her wabi-sabi approach—her customers can care for their skin while OWN-ing their uniqueness and embracing beauty in “imperfection.”
PACKAGING Just as the skin care name and logo convey Sarah’s design ethos, the bottle forms themselves were designed to echo her approach, as well. Their evocative shape become mini sculptures for display on countertops when not in use and they’re constructed from 100% recycled plastic making them more sustainable and lightweight for ease of use. The twist and curved shape, while being aesthetically pleasing and mimic Sarah’s use of curves in her own designs, are also designed to be easy and safe to hold even when wet.
DISPLAY The display was created to showcase all of the products in the OWN by Sarah Sherman Samuel skin care line. The curved pieces of wood are made from natural white oak and walnut to continue the story of curves and beautiful contrasts. The logo is set into a copper plate to emphasize Sarah Sherman Samuel's love for natural materials that highlight their raw and polished qualities.
