Moving boxes, cans, milk jugs, medication bottles – more and more, designers are putting their scents and cosmetics into ordinary packaging. A review.

DiePresse.com, 27.09.2007 (ThePress.com, 9/27/2007)

(…) Visions of the tetra-pak were floating in designer Thekla Heineke’s head as she developed the packaging for a hair coloring product by Shiseido. The new feature of “Tasting Tone” is its quick and uncomplicated use, and this is precisely what Heineke wanted to highlight. “The familiar shape of a tetra-pak represents the simple, daily use of a product”, says the designer, along the lines of: open, use, and toss. She explains that the strategy to use cheap, or at least ordinary, packaging for luxury cosmetics represents a quest for understatement. Thekla Heineke designs for the Berlin-based agency, kakoii, which is also responsible for the design of the cosmetics line “FSP” by Shiseido. FSP’s foil closures, which do not instill a sense of exclusivity and seem familiar since we are used to seeing them on medications, also play on the aesthetics of the ordinary. Heineke describes the attraction of products designed in this manner as: “It is not high-end, but insiders know nonetheless that it is expensive.”

• Packaging design by kakoii Berlin/Tokyo

Packaging Summit: The most important event of the year for interested packaging designers takes place October 18 – 19: the 3rd German Packaging Summit. This year, kakoii is participating.

Under the heading: Keep it political, please kakoii Creative Director, Thekla Heineke, will present Non-linear Strategies in Brand Management through: Customized evolving brand design. In other words: How to hit the bull’s eye even though there is no longer a center.

Here you will find more information on our expertise in packaging design.

Creativ verpacken (Creative Packaging) – Luxury packaging, October – Designer’s Opinion

Thekla Heineke, Creative Director at kakoii Berlin: “What do you expect from packaging that promises us luxury? A direct relationship with the product, an idea or concept that has been encapsulated without simply using popular stereotypes. Keeping the promise to be there just for me. For example, let’s take a look at the Ipsa fragrance line by Shiseido: a small, round flacon produced in a limited series. What is the appropriate packaging for a scent that is fresh, dry, and light? This scent is embedded in a round form, wrapped in a white leather bag that can be opened by zipper. The front is covered by a double-layer of sheer gauze which holds a feather of the same blue color as the flacon. Is it possible to create packaging that is more personal or sensual to the touch?”

• Packaging design by kakoii Berlin/Tokyo

On April 11, Thekla Heineke and Stefan Mannes present in Munich on packaging trends in Japan and how these can inspire packaging solutions for the European market.

The new conference, Customer-friendly Packaging, inaugurated in 2013, is now the new meeting place for experts in innovative packaging solutions focused on specific target groups. In light of the looming demographic shift, the megatrend toward convenience, and the increasing call for sustainability, industry and retailers must recognize the potential for packaging focused on specific target groups and invest in innovation.

In inspiring keynotes and best practices presentations, as well as interactive formats, the conference highlights marketing and packaging experts who already today focus on customer-friendly packaging and attain positive results for their brands through innovative and intelligent design.

• Go to Conference page for schedule and registration
• Go to packaging design expertise by kakoii

„creativ verpacken“ 2/2013 (Creative Packaging February 2013 issue)

creativ verpacken is the leading publication for packaging design in Germany and is on the reading list of every packaging designer. Nowhere else is it possible to find such a successful combination of inspiration and hands-on observations of markets and brands.

We are therefore exceedingly pleased with the portrayal of the agency featured in the February 2013 issue of creativ verpacken. On a two-page spread, read all about the history of the agency, as well as the personal motivation of the founders, Thekla Heineke and Stefan Mannes. And, last but not least, find out why good packaging design enjoys an excellent relationship with social projects.

• Go to the artcile (2 MB, PDF)
• Go to packaging expertise by kakoii