Colour-shift packaging from Clariant Masterbatches
packaging concept that would immediately gain attention in the
crowded field of products for indoor skin tanning salons.
Fiji Blend, located in Santa Monica, California, wanted to create a packaging concept that would immediately gain attention in the crowded field of products for indoor skin tanning salons.
Scott Freeman, COO of Fiji Blend, called in Clariant to begin an ongoing partnership on the project. The design work was handled at the Clariant ColorWorks Design and Technology Center.
"I had seen a sample bottle that shimmered like jewels," said Freeman. "That was what we needed. A package you remembered - two days or two years later. "
The Fiji Blend products are packaged in inverted cylinders - tottles - with a wide-mouth flip/snap cap. The "Spectrachrome" three-dimensional colour flip masterbatches are a red/gold/orange, a blue/green/purple and a bronze/gold/green sparkle. The tottles are a bi-layer structure made of HDPE and blow molded.
"Visually this is the most striking container on the market today. One unusual feature of the Fiji Blend color system is the intense color shift that occurs when your angle of view changes. The blue container you see on the shelf will literally change to green as you walk past it," commented Len Kulka, Director of creative development for plastic packaging for Clariant Masterbatches.
"This effect is exotic, but it runs within conventional processing parameters and cycle times and does not require special tooling. For Fiji Blend, the let-down ratio ranged between four and six per cent with an outside layer thickness of 15 per cent," added Kulka.
The "Spectrachrome" effect works on a light refraction principle that creates a colour shift on the outside layer of the container. The effect can be modified by changing the base colour in the inside layer, which acts as a light absorber or reflector depending on the shade selected.
