International Packaging Firm Nice Ltd. Combines Pinpoint Market Positioning With A Flair For Unusual Material
Although the award-winning firm is a full-service agency offering everything from corporate branding to multimedia communications, NiCE has built its reputation on its packaging design. "We grew from packaging," says NiCE founder Davide Nicosia. "I love it." With offices in New York and Madrid, Spain, NiCE takes on about 300 packaging projects a year. Its client roster includes United Colors of Benetton, Victoria's Secret, and Tiffany & Co. Specializing in cosmetics, NiCE has designed for Elizabeth Arden, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Calvin Klein Cosmetics, and Bath & Body Works.
NiCE prides itself on its ability to use innovative design to define a product's image. The first challenge the designer faces when tackling a packaging project is understanding the target demographic. "There are so many types of people out there, it pays to be as specific as possible when targeting design," says Nicosia. "For example, you can't really think in terms of the youth market, because within the youth market alone there are many subgroups."
With any new project, NiCE designers thoroughly research competitive products, ambling about Manhattan or downtown Madrid to see what's on display, to get ideas, to find fabrics and other materials. "We want to see what is happening out there in the market," Nicosia says. "We want to do things better, get inspiration. Creative people are wild -- they get crazy ideas."
An example: for a project about a decade ago, Nicosia was inspired by the corrugated packing boxes that contained his then-newly purchased Apple Macintosh ci. He turned around and used corrugated board for the packaging of a United Colors of Benetton Tribù cosmetics campaign. "Using this type of material in a presentational way was ahead of its time," Nicosia says. "It was structurally interesting and also had visual impact , especially for the cosmetics market.." He carried the corrugated board technique into other projects, including Calvin Klein CK1.
Once a NiCE designer has an initial concept for a packaging design, he or she turns to the computer. "Adobe Illustrator becomes the canvas for the idea," says Nicosia, who believes that the ease with which digital images can be manipulated fosters the creative process. "It's extremely easy for us to see and change colors and textures. We can capture whatever attitude we want to convey by manipulating the file in a very simple way. Then, if we want to create a more realistic feeling, we bring the image into Photoshop and give it highlights, depth, shininess, and that becomes our presentation. Our vision takes form."
Many of the firm's packaging and product-design projects are for high-end niche markets - such as a recent candle design for Tiffany - but NiCE also designs packaging with mass-market appeal, which requires a different approach. "The challenge in designing for mass-markets is to create a specific identity with universal appeal," Nicosia says. It helps that NiCE brings an international flair to the table. Nicosia himself is Italian, and his staff of 30 designers hale from 15 different countries. "Most of our designers have spent time in our Spanish office to broaden their understanding of world markets," Nicosia says.
Environmental concerns - always an element of packaging design - are taken seriously at NiCE. The firm uses recycled and recyclable materials at every opportunity. Says Nicosia, "It's good for future generations and it makes good marketing sense."
Here's a look at four very different approaches NiCE took to cosmetics packaging, along with a tour through some highlights of NiCE's other work over the past decade. As different as they are, the designs all strive for two things: to target the market in an innovative way, and to sell the product.
Freelance writer Anita Dennis lives in San Francisco and wishes she could afford cosmetics from Tiffany's.
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