Shane King, senior graphic designer, at Tweak Design told PKN the story:
“Emporia is a first for the toilet tissue category, a luxury product aimed at the top end consumer: four ply tissue constructed with micro-fibre technology for superior softness and strength; available in two varieties - unscented, white, embossed or, for the ultimate statement, scented with a luxury perfume in the inner core sheets not the outside, silver printed and embossed.
“We developed and refined positioning strategies based around the broader theme of luxury and style. Of these, one stood out to the target audience, that being the positioning of ‘high end European style’. Our inspiration for this were the visual cues from well known, decadent luxury brands that signal the ultimate luxury experience. Strong, ornate imagery used in brands such as Versace, we gauged, would set a new high ground in the category – and regal colours, like metallic gold.
“A frosted, semi-opaque stock was desired, which presented many print process challenges. Due to the frosting, the artwork had to be printed on the outside of the substrate, not the inside, which is the traditional method. This was how we were able to print with a matte ink which would contrast with the high sheen metallic ink. A custom gold ink was developed, as we needed a higher metallic chip content than is currently available. We also needed to increase the opacity of the metallic ink to maintain its sheen and tone when overprinting the matte ink colour.”
Solaris, an Australian operated and managed affiliate of APP, used Amcor Flexibles as the printer, who worked with the Tweak designers to achieve the high end packaging result. Both the product and its packaging had to comply with Solaris’ and APP’s sustainability requirements. The company maintains a strict, zero-tolerance policy for illegal fibre entering the supply chain and implements comprehensive, independently audited systems to ensure that the raw materials it purchases are from legal and responsibly managed forests. It also uses strict, independently audited, legal origin verification and chain-of-custody protocols to ensure complete transparency on the origin of its raw materials. Emporia's packaging materials and processes had to conform with the requirement that suppliers operate at least in accordance with national and international regulations, and above them where possible.