Introduction
Since we began our studio, Tomorrow Lab® has readily challenged the divide between Packaging and Product. We believe, by making packaging more valuable, we can create benefits for the user and the environment we inhabit. We’ve been fortunate to find many like minded clients along the way, and, as it turns out, the folks over at The Dieline feel the same way. Today, we’re proud to announce that Tomorrow Lab’s packaging design for Exponent has won the Dieline Award for Best in Sustainability.
https://thedieline.com/blog/2023/6/5/the-best-in-packaging-from-2023-dieline-awards-winners-revealed
As with all hardware projects, it’s been a long process and journey. In hopes of inspiring others, we’d like to share some highlights.
The Exponent Problem
Skincare products are incredibly finicky. Active ingredients are dissolved or suspended in creams and serums. If applied correctly and in the ideal ratios, these products work wonders, firming skin, shrinking pores, improving blemishes, and generally rolling back time. A lack of concentration, and the active ingredients don’t do a thing. Too much and users can experience rashes, chemical burns, dry skin and purging — a process where the top layer of the epidermis flakes away en masse.
The problem with maintaining a perfect concentration is timing — and a few other things. As soon as a mixed serum or cream comes in contact with light, heat, oxygen or sometimes moisture, the active elements begin to change chemically. They inactivate. This process continues progressively with time and more exposure increases these effects exponentially. Manufacturers know this, and some even sell single-use packaged products as a solution. These don’t fully solve the problem as they are susceptible to heat degradation and they do so at the expense of daily plastic waste. Other brands put extra active ingredients in their products so that they’re more effective by the time they reach the consumer, but these create potential damaging effects if used at their full concentration, and will still degrade into less-useful serums by the bottom of the bottle.
However, powdered ingredients are significantly more stable than their liquid pre-compounded counterparts. So our client, Liz Whitman, had an idea. What if consumers could mix powered active ingredients into a high-quality moisturizing serum seconds before use? Moreover, what if they could simplify their skincare regimen by selecting the active ingredients that suit their particular needs? And what if they could do this using a system with zero plastic waste?
With these questions, Exponent was born. An idea that provides exponentially more effective, exponentially safer, and exponentially more sustainable skincare.
Formula & Mixer
Our favorite projects involve clients who truly know their business and are just as dedicated to inventing as we are. Working with the Exponent team exemplifies this in spades. The team is always looking past the next problem and prototype trying to find holistic solutions to each subsequent challenge.
The power at the center of the Exponent system isn’t just the packaging. Instead, it’s a formula that comes together in a delightful way. Engineered by the brilliant Nancy Leung, the Exponent formula consists of one of six different powders hand-mixed into a hyaluronic acid ‘activator.’ However a perfect concentration of active ingredients is only possible with a perfect ratio. That’s where our engineering team came in. In the final use-case design, we decided to dispense a liquid upward and dispense a powder downward into a crucible. Through careful selection and modification of a pumping system, we were able to deliver just the right amount of liquid activator. Then through a novel, and now patented, rotating powder dispenser, we were able to release a dose of powder. Each is accurate to +/- 3% providing an exceptionally accurate and precise solution.
Through our Holistic Innovation process we identified a series of Industrial Design form factors and User Experiences that could be enabled by our dosing system. Through sketch prototypes and interactive user research we identified an optimal method wherein the user presses down on the top of the system and twists 1/4 turn. When the top is removed, two perfect powder piles and a pool of activator greet the user, waiting to be mixed.
Thanks to the excellent formulation and a carefully designed and modeled mixing crucible, the mixing process is effortless. A few seconds of mixing results in a lighter-than-air, homogenous serum that welcomes the user with a gentle scent.
Sustainability Focus
Packaging designers focused on creating sustainable solutions are faced with very few good options and an infinite number of compromises. Recycling streams are insufficient, reverse logistics are cost and energy intensive, and biodegradable packaging is often technically insufficient. So insight into emerging solutions and careful consideration of all options is critical.
For Exponent we identified a viable sustainable packaging archetype — a durable device with a set of glass and metal recyclable refills. After systematically exploring material and manufacturing options for the durable device, we decided to create the dispensing elements out of durable engineering plastics. We recognize that plastic is not often considered an ideal sustainable material. However, when performance and durability are considered, plastics make an excellent choice. And with a significantly longer life-cycle than single-use plastic bottles, the dispenser can provide years of utility while only budgeting for one return for remanufacturing.
Branded Concepts
To celebrate this new user transformation, we explored a series of branding directions each with a respective Industrial Design direction. To create an architecture to scaffold the brand and ID concepts on, we started by exploring a series of topologies. These were also part of the core mechanism work mentioned above. We then collaborated to build the branded ID directions around this architecture.
The first direction was built around the concept of the user as a powerful player in the functional efficacy of the product. It was tech forward and centered around the concept of a twisting infinite loop. For this direction, our designers created a similar twisting container that celebrated the core interaction of our dispenser while drawing the eye toward the center mixing chamber where the magic happens.
The second direction, developed by our friends at Bartlet Brands, inverted the previous concept such that the product was a player in the power of the user. This concept sees the women that use Exponent as icons of femininity. To underscore this we created a container that could stand as an icon with a clear globed Actives Dispenser that highlights the active powder jar, and a pedestal that contains the liquid Activator.
The final selected direction is a beautiful expression of the final brand. It invites interaction and is decorative enough to look appealing on any vanity.
Manufacturing
Tomorrow Lab is proud to have partnered with the brilliant team at Wormser Manufacturing to bring our dispenser to life. A lot can be lost in translation during the Design for Manufacturing (DFM) phase of a project. Our lovely dispenser was particularly at risk – it contains a unique, highly precise mechanism, requires good seals, reasonable manufacturing costs and we really, really didn’t want to see the proportions distorted or the size increased.
Through close collaboration with our partners (and especially the very clever Ralph Devito) we scrutinized every detail, troubleshot mechanisms, improved performance and brought our design from prototype through testing and into production.
Market Reception & Awards
When a product really hits a note with consumers it’s a celebration of the product’s concept, but it’s also a testament to every detail in the right place. The story, the promise, the consideration for people, their skin and the planet are all on display.
When Exponent went live, it was picked up by press and social media. The concept went viral and it became a hit amongst skin-fluencers and dermatologists alike. DTC sales have stayed strong since launch. Best of all, it works!
All this attention and success culminated this week in recognition from the authority on Consumer Packaged Goods. We’re incredibly proud of this achievement and we’re excited to keep building packaging that delivers transformative experiences and value while continuing to avoid the landfill.
If you have an idea for a packaged good, reach out to our team for a free consultation!