Ruth Mastenbroek Relaunched

Creative Agency: Williams Murray Hamm
Creative Director: Garrick Hamm
Account Director: Emmanuelle Hilson
Designer: Craig Kirk
Paper Artist: Courtney Dyer
Animator: Holly Mattacott-Cousins
Photographer: Andy Grimshaw
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Ruth Mastenbroek
Location: London, United Kingdom
Packaging Contents: Perfume
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass bottles, Card Boxes

BRINGING A DROP OF OLFACTORY STORYTELLING TO LIFE.
Ruth Mastenbroek, one of only a few independent British female perfumers, has relaunched her eponymous brand with packaging by award winning design agency, Williams Murray Hamm.

The intention of the relaunch is to grow the brand’s distribution by differentiating it in a market that has seen a proliferation of niche brands over the last 5 years.

Mastenbroek’s fragrances are built on her classical training as a ‘nose’ and 40 years of training around the world. She has developed an intriguing palette of scents directly associated with memories of the places she has lived and the events that have happened in her life.

It is by blending and overlaying selected ingredients from this palette that Ruth Mastenbroek creates her small collection of exquisite, high end fragrances.

Williams Murray Hamm collaborated with paper artist Courtney Dyer, to capture Mastenbroek’s approach to ‘storytelling through scents’ by creating delicate, droplet shaped illustrations that use intricately layered back-lit, cut paper. These directly echo the overlaying of scents that she uses to create her fragrances.

“Each perfume comes from Ruth’s rich imagination and past inspirations” says Garrick Hamm, WMH’s creative director. “We have collected these thoughts, dreams and memories and brought them to life in a single precious droplet”.

Mastenbroek feels that WMH has caught the spirit of her work perfectly, saying ‘Every drop tells a story’ is a wonderful expression of my life’s work.’

The Ruth Mastenbroek fragrance collection can be purchased online and instore stockists across independent British retailers, including the Fenwick Bond Street store, London.

WMH expressed ‘Every Drop Tells a Story’ by creating delicate, droplet shaped illustrations using intricately layered back-lit, cut paper. These echo the layers of the scent that Ruth Mastenbroek reveals in her fragrances. The illustrations are the focal point of the design simply because they tell the story. This is backed up with a paragraph on the pack rear that eloquently explains the influences behind each fragrance.

The outer carton box packaging is a litho print card with gold foil detail to amplify the luxury element. The bottle glass bottle has a clear plastic, angular lid to complement the bottle shape, and a gold colour spray dispenser to carry through the colour of the fragrance itself. The label is a single colour litho print which details the individual illustrations originating from the crafted paper. The label droplet has varying degrees of transparency, to capture the golden tones of the fragrance to illuminate the story within. The idea is to see the story coming to life inside the bottle.

The range stories are all personal to Ruth’s journey:

• Amorosa – the seductive scent of a woman in love with life. Encapsulated with a couple dancing in the rolling landscape of Umbra, Italy.
• Oxford – the scent of an awakening… the discovery of life’s extraordinary adventure. Encapsulated with the intellectual reading a book by the river in Oxford.
• Firedance – The sparkling feeling of celebrating life’s most special moments. Encapsulated by fireworks, hot air balloons and a young couple enjoying the a special moment.
• Signature – The juxtaposition of the powerful woman; daringly courageous and strong, yet vulnerable and tender on the inside. Encapsulated with a little girl on a swing with a view beyond into the world of possibilities.