Introducing a new column to Beauty Packaging — Designer’s Desk.

Each issue, we will be asking three designers a question from one of our readers and will publish their responses. The designers are all respected creatives in the beauty industry, each with a different background, expertise and perspective. This month’s question:

Do you follow trends or do you set them? What do you see as some of the main trends for Winter 2006?

Marc Rosen

Marc Rosen is president and chief executive of Marc Rosen Associates, ACCESSmr and Horizon Beauty. An award-winning (seven FiFi’s) designer in the areas of fragrance, skin care and make-up, he is also a professor at Pratt Institute, teaching the graduate course in designing fragrance packaging. A trustee at Pratt, he received an honorary doctorate in 2002. Rosen has created bottles for Karl Lagerfeld, Perry Ellis, Ellen Tracy, Elizabeth Arden Red Door, Nina Ricci, Guess and Jill Stuart. He is the recipient of the 2004 FiFi award for the packaging of his fragrance, Shanghai. www.marcrosenassociates.com.

A: Designers set trends based upon consumer needs and wants. We create objects of desire that parallel fashion. We are seeing a return to femininity in fashion this season and next with “girly” fashions replete with ruffles and lace. Colors like lavender and purple, russet and chartreuse have returned after many years. Retro looks are in after years of only the now. All this we see reflected in cosmetic packaging. For instance, Tom Ford’s Amber Nudes with fluted gold metal cases, for Estée Lauder’s venerable Youth Dew, echoes the flutes in the original bottle from the early 1950s. Alexander McQueen’s new fragrance, “MyQueen” is contained in a clear and purple decanter that would have looked perfect on Jean Harlow’s Hollywood dressing table.  Jill Stuart’s first entry into fragrance, Jill Stuart, which I designed, is very vintage, very feminine just like her clothes. All three fragrances come in the same heavy glass bottle and sensuous, faceted curved glass shoulder and stopper.

Today where retailers want only new, setting trends, being different is difficult. Last year I created my first fragrance, Shanghai, to illustrate that setting trends, being original and creating concepts is what fragrance and fashion is all about. Innovation is what made this industry great and we must continue to strive for it.

Very expensive, $150-$1000, luxury skin care is a trend. Creating appropriate packaging that makes a statement to mirror the efficacy of the product claims is essential to a brand’s success. Christian Dior’s Prestige skin care has chosen gold with elegant heavy walled jars and bottles with classic Dior-style, super luxe giving its clients a sense of the fashion and status synonymous with its image. Yves Saint Laurent’s Majeur Nutri-Creme is very modern with flat faceted sided containers. The screened logos offer a more contemporary look giving a sense of state-of-the-art skin care.

Trend-setting seems superficial but in an industry obsessed with new, designers must take responsibility in finding original solutions with visual impact to lure the consumer to purchase.

Glyn Eppy

Glyn Eppy is president of TheDesignSpot. TheDesignSpot is a design and branding company located in the heart of New York City’s Flatiron District with a team of award-winning designers and creative thinkers who specialize in building beautiful brands. They’re experts at creating and executing unusual packaging and identity pieces, with an emphasis on skin care, personal care, cosmetics and fragrance. TheDesignSpot handles everything from the big picture to the tiniest detail. www.thedesignspot.net.

A: We love to push the envelope as far as design is concerned and create ideas that are unique and out-of-the-box, so we rarely, if ever, follow design trends in that regard. In terms of packaging components, however, we do follow some trends. We love new takes on standard things, like dispensing pumps, which now have the ability to create a great foaming action. We recently designed a children’s skin care line with really fun packaging. We followed a trend in terms of some of our component choices for the line but created graphics that were very different and exciting.

We’ve also set trends with our use of color. When the entire skin care industry was dressed in white components and cartons, we designed a line that was in a pearlescent green box. It really popped off the shelf and brought a lot of press to the brand.

As far as trends for the coming months, I think the focus will still be strong in “less is more”. Consumers crave convenience and ease of use — smaller travel sizes, individual sample sizes and unit doses are going to become even more popular. Also, following the “less is more” trend, the environment takes center stage again. The industry seems to be using less and less secondary packaging. Great strides are being made in creating plastic packaging derived from corn, which is kind to the environment. Trends are strong in innovation and in form and function, multi-functional components that save space and the environment. Colors are rich and strong, deep jewel tones, emerald, eggplant and chocolate brown. Clean, clear type sends powerful messages. Paired with an efficacious product and a great design, the perfect package is created.

Amy Zunzunegui

Amy Zunzunegui is the director of product development for Urban Decay and Hard Candy Cosmetics. Urban Decay Cosmetics describes itself as “beauty with an edge…feminine, a little bit dangerous and a lot of fun.” Hard Candy Cosmetics is tailored for the young and fresh trend-setter with a “style that’s meant to be seen.” www.urbandecay.com and www.hardcandy.com.

A: When the Urban Decay cosmetic brand was founded nearly 10 years ago, it was punk, grunge and even a bit gothic. We launched crazy colors and crazy names. Over the years, we have gradually become both trend-setting and trend-watching. We always pay attention to what is going on in the marketplace. Just because a trend doesn’t exactly fit into Urban Decay’s image, it might be a springboard for another idea. It may take our own ideas to the next level. Whatever we launch, even if it is a simple tube, we always adapt it and make it our own.

On the other hand, if we see something that is inspiring and is perfect fit for the brand but doesn’t necessarily follow the current trend, we will still launch it. Urban Decay has established itself as a brand that can kind of do anything. As long as each product has our three attributes — feminine, dangerous and fun — then it will work for our brand. That is our mantra to which all products have to fall into. Other than that, we are lucky we are not bound to the same rules as other cosmetics companies. We attract the teens, urban on-the-go girls, ultra-chic and cool 20-30-somethings, and even the soccer moms. Our audience expects us to take cosmetics, especially the packaging, to the next level.

Given our brand and our following, we are able to push the boundaries with our packaging and probably get away with a lot more than other, more conservative, companies. So in that respect, we are more trend-setting. In regards to Winter 2006, we are working on new concepts that have never been done with cosmetic palettes before. For instance, we are working on a few palettes for Holiday 2006 which are inspired by simple bags or T-shirts. There is not a specific trend that we are following, but we are simply adapting a concept and textural idea that we fell in love with and decided to make it part of our brand. There are also trends that have become too over-done and the “bling” effect is a perfect example of this (Editor’s note: The term“Bling” was popularized in a 1999 hip-hop song by The B.G. — it’s a slang term used to describe fine jewelry and other expensive baubles that showcase wealth.). It’s a trend that has been around for a few years and is still being capitalized on. However, for Urban Decay, it is over. We were able to be part of it but have since moved on. We want to be one step ahead of everyone else.