Awards for excellence

Congratulations are in order to TricorBraun, which announced in a press release Feb. 15 that the company took home two graphic design awards for packaging. 

TricorBraun Design and Engineering, a division of TricorBraun situated in Chicago, is "one of North America's largest providers of jars, bottles and other rigid packaging components," teamed up with Hoppes, a company which manufactures gun cleaning products to design packaging for its newest product, for which TricorBraun received one award.

The other, was awarded for TricorBraun's design work for a sake brewer, SakeOne. The brewing company wanted a bottle that would set itself apart from competition and cost less than its existing bottle. TricorBraun's design featured a sleek black design with yellow and white lettering.

Sleek and simple design garners attention, not to mention awards.

The fourth sense

Long are the days of relying solely on sight behind us, as the packaging industry is now integrating another sense to the mix.

Protection Decoration Conditionnement (PDC) Europe is partnering with Eos Innovation to develop elastomer sleeves which package products, but with a new twist.

The sleeves are manipulated during manufacturing to replicate textures, either "smooth, marbled, scaled or dimpled," according a PDC press release.

"Skin enhances any product: spirits, cosmetics, perfume, everyday and decorative items, limited editions... it adds value and distinction to the brand by appealing to the consumers' senses of touch and sight," said Derek Vandervoorde, president of PDC Europe.

What's next? Smell?

Parents beware

Following last week's post about MeadWestvaco (MWV), two medicinal syrups have issued a recall on over 2 million units Jan. 31.

The products in question are Triaminic Syrups, Theraflu Warming Relief Syrups and about 20 others of the same type. Reason behind the product recall is the supposed child-resistant caps.

There were 12 reports of children who were able to unscrew the caps, and four reports of ingestion. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the United States, one incident sought medical attention.

Patrons affected by the recall can get a repair or a refund.

Read the press release in full here.


Consumer Contact:
Novartis Consumer Healthcare toll-free at (866) 553-6742 from 8 a.m. to midnight ET, Monday through Saturday, or online at www.novartisOTC.com for more information.

Child-proof

MeadWestvaco (MWV), packaging-biz giant is working alongside professionals in the pharmaceutical industry to create packaging that is child-resistant, a partnership that's been ongoing for years.

Reason behind the partnership was the fact that too many children (more than 500,000) five and under suffer poisoning from medication. MWV included in a press release that "more than 60,000 end up in the emergency room after ingesting unsecured medications."

MWV is promising to tailor its packaging solutions to satisfy each of its customers' needs. While products will be child-proof, MWV is working toward making the products adult-friendly. Personally, I'm not a fan of the push-twist caps on Tylenol/Advil bottles.

But the purpose of the initiative is to save lives, first and foremost.

BOXXing out the competition

There's a new machine in town, and it's taking human jobs. Transformers are actually taking over.

Canadian Packaging reported that Eagle Packaging Machinery LLC, based in Miami, FL, has a new machine that it (Eagle Packaging) hopes will decrease operators' carbon footprints.

The new machine called BOXXER is an automated system that will build cases and place products in them. Which will negate the purpose of having hardly any human presence in a factory that does such thing.

According to Canadian Packaging, BOXXER will "help increase productivity and lower labor costs."

To learn more about how it works, read the original post.

Go Wild

Originally posted Nov. 26, 2011.

I'm a huge DIY fanatic, so here goes my first post.

On Pinterest, I often peruse the site to keep up with current nail trends. One of my first "pins" was someone's leopard-print manicure. I fell in love immediately.

A friend recommended I start reading Syl and Sam, a blog following a sister-duo on their fashion adventures and DIYs, while showcasing their amazing designs.
Syl posted a nail DIY with her version of the leopard-print manicure.

I had nothing else to do on a Saturday afternoon. Armed with two toothpicks, my trusty OPIs and 1.5 hours I decided to give it a try.
The result:

The pinkie I did at Sephora yesterday.

For those of whom are interested, I used "Isn't it Romantic?" for the base, and "Over the Taupe" and "Baby it's 'Coal' Outside!" for the spots.

Gemma the Great

Originally posted Sept. 3, 2011.

I’ve recently found out that supermodel Gemma Ward has been cast to play a role in the upcoming Gatsby film. While her character’s name is unknown, the role is said to be of some significance.

For those of whom aren’t familiar with Miss Ward in the fashion industry, if you caught the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, you would have seen her as Tamara the First Mermaid. This information I’m getting from IMDB.

I am still unsure of how I feel about this development. As the film is gaining a lot of attention, with big names attached to it, I cannot help but expect a lot from her. I mean, I guess there are lots of model turned actress success stories. Perhaps Gemma will deliver and change my perspective.