Designing packaging people keep

What Nora Skin taught us about refill systems, oak lids and making the jar the hero of the shelf.

Packaging has a strange job. It needs to win attention in a few seconds on a crowded shelf, then live on a bathroom counter for months. Designing for the first moment is easy. Designing for the second is where the real work is.

Make the container worth keeping

With Nora Skin we flipped the brief. Instead of a jar that gets thrown away, we designed an oak lid and frosted glass that people want to refill. The refill pouch ships flat and costs a fraction of a new jar, so keeping the original is the obvious choice.

Fewer words, better materials

We cut the front of pack to the name and one line. Everything else moved to the inside of the sleeve. The result feels calmer on the shelf and more premium in the hand, and it cut packaging waste by 60 per cent.

(Next article)

Sketchbooks before screens