open eye

I’m just back from Chicago and FUSE – A conference on design & culture, brand strategy & packaging.

The conference was topped and tailed by two ‘futurologists’. One who predicted the future and the other who essentially railed at the futility of doing so – to say the least a very interesting contrast.

Jared Weiner’s vision of the future saw 10 areas of growth ‘spaces’ including: design, time, inner, micro, inter, green to blue, play, storage and outer space. And that’s only 9 as I count back so I must have missed one along the way.

Magnus Lindkvist quite brilliantly demonstrated that we could only really understand about the future by extrapolating from the lessons of the past. His presentation was all the more compelling for the refreshing confession from a futurologist that “we can’t ever know what we’ll know in the future”.  We all put down our notebooks and just enjoyed the ride; it was as much stand-up as it was futurology.

Jared’s company is a long established family affair and what his presentation left me wanting was a summary of their earliest predictions and whether or not they’d come to pass.

Jonathan Adler Store, New York

En route we heard the ‘potter’ (a term we’ve come to reassess since the emergence of Grayson Perry) Jonathan Adler denying what was obvious for us all to see. His basic premise being that branding has destroyed creativity. But of course what he’s done brilliantly is to create his own eponymous lifestyle brand that I’m sure in time will be a match for Martha Stewart. Albeit provocatively controversial he was still very engaging.

We heard genuinely believable examples of how Unilever is meeting its sustainable living plan (halving its global footprint while doubled the size of the business) from Vice President of Global Design Dennis Furniss and how P&G is winning hearts and minds by saving Mr Clean from possible oblivion; one of those projects that leaves you green with envy just wishing you’d done it.

Inside the conference there was much, much more besides.

But outside the whole country was understandably in high dudgeon at the events in Boston, and Chicago was in rapture to one of the most spectacular storms I think I’ve ever seen.

Steve is a regular contributor to Cosmetics Business and SPC magazine. This month he’s discussing how retailers need to help customers understand the link between online and in store shopping in order to ensure that both prosper. To read the full article click here.

Here are our latest designs for the P&G-owned Aussie haircare brand. This limited edition bottle reflects the vibrant street art scene in Melbourne and features across the Colour Mate, Frizz Remedy and Mega product ranges.

CosmoProf is Europe’s largest trade show exhibition dedicated to beauty and wellness to which we make an annual pilgrimage. With our comfortable shoes donned, we picked our way through the flotsam and jetsam to seek out beauty pleasures and delights.

We can’t pretend we caught it all but we hope you enjoy our latest Open Eye dedicated to sharing our findings on the highly competitive, innovative and wonderful world of beauty and wellness.

Click the image below to read the full issue.

The latest store to hit our high street ‘& Other Stories’ opened on London’s Regent Street this weekend to extreme excitement on the blogesphere, press and Twitter – the audience the brand is inspired by. This new concept is brought to us courtesy of Swedish mega-retailers Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) who also own Cos, Monki and Cheap Monday.

Whats new about the concept? The pricing is mid-range but with high-end fashion aspirations, but the main idea is around cross-selling via related items. Think Amazon ‘If you like this then you’ll like that’ idea and then make it relevant. The look and feel reflects the changing way that consumers buy fashion and beauty, especially the impact of social media and blogging, which allows women to create ‘stories’ around their looks- what they picked up on Ebay, their mum’s 70′s wardrobe, what they spotted in a charity shop and sourced on the high street.

The brand identity is quiet in an understated non-dominating way; handwritten typography mixed with simple fonts all delivered in a classic fashion palette of black and white. This allows the products to do the talking and gives the impression of great value.

The website excellently reflects the brand’s core idea – linking products by ‘story’ – of a fragrance, design style or trend, and has a real blog feel to it.

We checked out the new store on the site of Mamas and Papas old location, just up from Liberty’s. Judging by the lack of stock and queues for the changing room, the opening weekend had been a hit. The beauty department was extensive with a lot of floor space. Ranges were very neatly and easily navigated, with clear differentiation between colour cosmetics, body care and fragrance.

The packaging design cleverly colour codes ranges linked to ingredients and there are suggestions on which products will give you a particular look. The 3d packaging lets it down a little, especially in bodycare where pots feel a bit flimsy and the black lid has an ‘off the shelf’ feel – although this could be construed as utilitarian chic I suppose. The cosmetics range does better with some lovely quirky touches like typography embedded into blushers saying ‘Go girl, seek happy nights & happy days’. A sunken butlers sink where you can freely sample hand washes and shower gels is a nice extra touch referencing other more premium brands such as Aesop.

They also stock other interesting beauty brands including ‘Stop the water while using me’, ‘This Works’ and ‘The Balm’ all of which are super-modern and quirky.

From what we could see consumers couldn’t get enough; the beginning of this brand story starts very well.

CEW is an organisation set up to help promote the professional growth and development of women in the cosmetic industry. Recently we attended their product demonstration evening where brands showcase their products in order to be voted the best in their particular category. It’s a great way to discover new products – here are some that caught our eye.

Astalift is a brand we’d not heard of previously. The brand is owned by technology and photo imaging experts, Fujifilm. Astalift is the company’s first step into the beauty industry where they have applied their current technologies and expertise to the beauty realm. Our first thoughts of the product was that it looked awfully like strawberry jelly but once smoothed between our palms it applies in the same way as a serum.

Yes! Nurse is the brainchild of full-time paediatric nurse Antonia Steven.  Her intensive hand cream was born out of constantly dealing with sore, cracked hands due to routine hand washing with chemical soaps. Her hands became so chapped at one point that she had to take a week off work because of potential infection risk. The hand cream she created is jam-packed full of moisturising ingredients including manuka honey, aloe vera and pomegranate seed oil and is available to buy either as a single purchase or on a bi-monthly delivery order.

Founded in Singapore the Ginvera Green Tea range is a much-loved skincare brand in South Eat Asia. The products are known for their lightweight texture and are formulated from traditional Asian beauty rituals and ingredients. We’ve tried both their marvel gel and BB cream and so far, both impress us.

Despite being launched in Chicago in 1989 we’d not heard of the brand H20+ until the demonstration evening. Their products are based around a unique marine concept where all products are formulated using sea-sourced ingredients, marine botanicals and plant extracts. Their hero product is the oil free moisturising gel.

All CEW members who attended will now vote for their favourite products under different categories. We’ll post our highlights of the winners once they’re announced.

We are delighted to announce we have recently appointed 3 new Partners to the company, to join Steve Gibbons (Founder and Managing Director) and Nick Vaus (Creative Director).

Sophie Hatch (Strategy Director) Sara Jones (Client Services Director) and Michelle Anderson (Business Development Director) have joined them to create the new Partnership.

It’s a fantastic step forward and the Dew Gibbons Partnership have great ambitions and plans to build on the success of the company to provide beautiful and effective design for beauty, health and indulgence brands globally and locally. This is just the beginning, watch this space for more news soon!