Package Design - June/July 2013 - 36

FIELD NOTES

Pop-up Appeal
Savvi lays on
the charm to woo
the young and the
young-at-heart.

THE PRODUCT
Inspired by the colorful and
dimensional illustrations in
pop-up books, Savvi’s senior
designer Rob Backues aimed to create tattoo packaging that was markedly
different from its competitors. As he describes it, the tattoo
section of the toy aisle falls ﬂat with an overly simple packaging approach.
Instead, he wanted to bring depth to tattoo packaging in a very literal sense.
This, he explains, gives Savvi’s packaging the “wow factor” that attracts both
the end consumers, children aged three to 10, and the primary purchasers,
their parents.
Working with Savvi senior illustrator Pete Arriola, Backues designed a lowdepth paperboard carton that comprises up to seven panels. Each panel contains part of an illustration, with the lowermost panels printed with background
images and the top-panels cut and printed with an image that boldly depicts
the tattoos’ theme.
This approach is time consuming and laborious, but Backues contends it is
worth it. Savvi has expanded the design system to 18 Savvi products and
approximately 10 licensed products.
But what do Package Design readers think?

THE VERDICT
I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but
this is the rare instance where the
brand takes a back seat to selling the
product. The central thought? “Boy, my
kids are going to have a field day with
these! Where do I buy one?” The packaging is exciting and vibrant, and personally, I know my kids would not be
able to get enough of these littering the
house. The versioning is also wonderful. The experience and the fantastical
feel are transportive and incredibly
appealing. What kid doesn’t love butterflies, flowers and pink hearts—more is
definitely better here.
Rick Barrack, chief creative ofﬁcer and managing
partner at CBX

JUNE/JULY 2013

This packaging is unique and clever in
its construction. The illustration style
fits the category as being bright, detailed
and layered with lots to see bringing the
tattoos to life for the kids, by complimenting the contents nicely.
Where the design falls flat for me
is the front top panel and the type treatment. The fonts paired with each collection name, Star Brite, Pirates, Surf,
etc., feel expected and dated. I would
love to see all the typography revisited
with the same level of consideration,
uniqueness and creativity as they
clearly did designing the package
construction.
Everything supporting the product
should have a pint-sized hip vibe that

would raise the excitement of the product for everyone—especially moms. I
would be much more willing to purchase this product for my kids or for
party goody bags if the tattoos looked
and felt current and cool.
Amy Graver, president and creative director at
Elements

These boxes are well marketed to their
primary audience. The hanging feature
increases visibility to the primary display panel combined with colorful
graphics gives the graphic design on this
product line a leg up on the
competition.
But I question if the increase in
retail space allocated to these boxes will
be validated with a comparable sales lift
over the competitions’ flat pouch packaging formats in dollars per sq. ft.
Leon Hall, president and CEO of Terra Nova Business Solutions Inc. PD

Want to have your package design
highlighted in this column or
comment on future, spotlighted package
designs? Contact Linda Casey at
linda.casey@stmediagroup.com and type
“Field Notes” in the email subject line.

Package Design - June/July 2013

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