With the recent launch of two new grades, the Surlyn palette has reached a new milestone in the range of possibilities available to designers. So it's only logical that DuPont should join forces this year with Geneva's Haute École d'Art et de Design (HEAD) to organize the first edition of the "Be Surlyn® and Design" competition, offering student designers the famous resin as a source of inspiration.
Innovation and creativity will be the watchwords of this first edition of the competition, organized in partnership with the trend agency Beautystreams. A dozen students in the second year of HEAD's Bachelor of Arts in Product, Jewellery and Accessory Design program will take up the challenge of creating a brand-new perfume cap design in Surlyn. The jury, made up of representatives of major perfume and cosmetics brands, will be chaired by Thierry de Baschmakoff. According to the designer, "the bottle is the link, the object that binds the visual identity of the brand with the essence of the perfume. The fragrance is ephemeral, but the container remains. That's why brands pay particular attention to the bottle and cap. Aware of the importance of packaging, the DuPont technical and marketing team supports brands from the very beginning of their projects, and well beyond product launch. Innovation in materials, the diversity of decoration techniques and the efficiency of developments ensure agility for brands that choose to work with the Surlyn palette.
It's in this spirit of creative freedom that the students will be working over the course of November and December to take up the "Be Surlyn®" challenge and present their creations early next year. To help them in their thinking, the Beautystreams agency has unveiled three major beauty trends for the autumn-winter 2018 season, which the students can draw inspiration from for their designs. "Behind every packaging design lies a story. Take inspiration from the trend projections to create your own universe and tell your story," encouraged Michele M. Superchi, Marketing & Sales Manager for Beautystreams. The DuPont team, for its part, will provide personalized technical support throughout the project, as Guillaume Beyrath, Technical Manager in the cosmetics team, points out: "Just as we do with brands, we want to support student designers in their approach, to ensure the feasibility of their projects. Surlyn is a learned material. Any new creation requires a thorough understanding of the material's technical, sensory and aesthetic specifications. It's up to us to guide the students as best we can, to ensure the optimal realization of their projects.
The kick-off was given by Thierry de Baschmakoff on November 6, 2017 at DuPont's European Technical Center in Meyrin in the presence of all the partners. "Working directly with a company such as DuPont is a great opportunity for students to discover the industrial world, what happens after their designs," emphasized François Dumas, designer and associate professor at HEAD. "We're looking forward to this adventure with the HEAD students. The winner will see his or her project come to fruition, and we will invest in the production of the winning design. We're convinced that, with its unique properties, Surlyn® will enable students to think through materials, and surprise us with their creations," says Maria Carcolé, EMEA Marketing Leader Perfumes & Cosmetics at DuPont.
