van heertum design VHD

Gasthuisring 23, 5041 DP Tilburg, Nederland

Creative Agency: Van Heertum Design VHD
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: San Mauro
Location: Tilburg, the Netherlands
Packaging Contents: Lemon scented oil
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass, paper board, paper
Printing Process: offset printing, Screen printing

600 new designs for San Mauro; Saluti da Sorrento!
Sorrento, Italy, is well known all over the world for its Lemons, with their thick, rough and aromatic yellow skins. San Mauro used them to create a new product “Novolio al Limone di Sorrento”. A first class lemon scented oil produced following local cultural craftsmanship. After picking the lemons, only the yellow skins are pealed by hand and they are put into San Mauro’s own olive oil. After the essential lemon skin-oils are consumed by the olive oil, the new product is filtered and bottled, in production batches of 600 bottles. This leaves a fresh lemon olive oil with a fine and delicate lemon flavor and scent.

For this amazing product, VHD created a special packaging design with lots of room for the unique brand story.

Cultural Heritage and Craftsmanship
The leading role in the brand story is for the “Lemons from Sorrento”. Through the packaging we really wanted to bring the consumer a piece of Italy, and literally show them where the product came from. To do this we used the real San Mauro lemon orchard, in Sorrento, as our inspiration. Also we wanted to incorporate the craftsmanship, pealing the lemons by hand, in the creative process as a reference. We set up a photo shoot at the San Mauro lemon orchard in Sorrento and used the photo material to create a huge hand made illustration. This illustration was than printed, in fresh green, on one large sheet, which was cut up into 600 different closing labels. This creates 600 different and unique pack designs. Every consumer literally holds a small piece of San Mauro’s cultural heritage. To explain this to the consumer, the bottle comes with a small card showing them the entire illustration (they hold a small piece of) and telling them the complete Brand and Making Of Story. The bottle itself is kept slim, tall and elegant, really fitting the Italian brand, with a simple and clear text layout in “lemon yellow and white” to balance out the detailed illustrative closing labels.

Ingredients
Another important role in the story is for the main ingredient ‘lemon’ or better said ‘lemon skins’. We really wanted to pop out of the shelves and leave competition behind, so just a nice box for the bottle, wouldn’t cut it in our eyes. That’s why we created a completely new and innovative “open pack” construction for the bottle, which is noticed immediately in stores, perfectly compliments and presents the slim bottle design, and most importantly fits the bottle like a “lemon skin”. To compliment the lemon oil, the construction is yellow and has an embossed lemon structure, so it literally looks and feels like a lemon skin. To top it off, the handle, for easy carrying, forms the San Mauro logo for extra Brand Exposure.

What’s Unique?
The fact that every pack design, in a single production batch of 600 bottles, is different and unique. Furthermore the design really tells the brandstory in a see, touch, feel principle.