Clinique Packaging Design Reflects Arts and Crafts as well as Art Nouveau

Over spring break I had to buy some makeup, and being the packrat that I am, I didn't want to throw away the boxes the makeup came in because I kind of collect interesting packaging design (especially when I know that a big part of the price I had to pay for a product goes into the product's unique packaging).

Since these package designs recently caught my eye, I thought I would try to discuss what were some of the boxes' design influences. Some of these influences seem to include Ukiyo-e, Art Nouveau, and possibly William Morris in the design of the floral background. The typography of the design is much more modern in its representation.

The use of flowers as ornament relates to both the William Morris Arts and Crafts and the Art Nouveau movements. Although William Morris would have created a more symmetrical, organized floral design, the fact that nature is the subject matter is at least relatable to Morris and his design. What is perhaps a stronger comparison, is the relationship of the design to Japanese Ukiyo-e prints and European Art Nouveau prints. First of all, the use of flat areas of color and bold, textural lines lend reference to such found in Ukiyo-e and Japanese prints. These same elements also relate to what is seen in the works of the later Art Nouveau poster designers who created more stylized and less detailed imagery, similar to this pattern.

The typography used in the package design is directly related to the modern developments of sans serif typefaces. "CLINIQUE" is done in a typeface that is a sans serif type yet suggests a serif. The rest of the type is very modern and includes one of the most famous typefaces, Helvetica.