Clariant Targets Asian Market with Satin Effect

Clariant color experts have combined three colors from the ColorForward® 2021 trend palette with a satin brushed-glass special effect to appeal to consumers in the growing Asia personal care market. The resulting look helps PET packaging convey the luxury and prestige impression associated with brushed glass used for premium-branded products. The technology behind the satin effect is not new. In fact, Clariant was among the first companies to introduce it to the market approximately 15 years ago. Vick Cai, Clariant ColorWorks™ Asia-Pacific Designer, explains: "What's new is how we're using it in combination with ColorForward trend colors to target a very specific audience. In this project, we focused on colors for the Asia personal care market, but we could do the same thing for any category in any region. That's what we do every day at Clariant ColorWorks." While the satin effect can be used with any color (or no color at all), the team at Clariant ColorWorks design and technology centers in Italy and Singapore decided to focus on the colors most likely to appeal to their target audiences.

In the 16th edition of Clariant's annual color forecast guide for the plastic industry, ColorForward 2021, they selected three colors:

• Golden ticket, a semi-transparent beige with fine gold specks that creates a sense of luxury and tolerance.
• No WI-FI, a soft green suggesting healthy, natural products free from preservatives and less likely to cause skin irritation.
• Motus intelligentia, a warm peachy-coral color. In Asian culture, warm colors like this are associated with youth and anti-aging.

Vick Cai continues: "We conducted extensive research in the Asia skin care market, especially in Japan and Korea where the most popular brands are located. What we found was a clear preference for soft, muted colors and their presence in nature. That's why we chose beige and light green; even the red we selected has a very natural tone. Then, by adding the satin appearance, we create a depth illusion on the bottle walls, making the bottle look like glass. But the effect is not only visual. It gives the bottle a softer surface feel. It makes it more pleasant to hold, and that further enhances the luxury impression." The effect is developed during the PET stretch blow-molding process. A proprietary additive in concentrated masterbatch form is added to virgin PET resin during the bottle preform molding. Then, when the preform is reheated, stretched and blown into the finished shape, the satin appearance emerges. ™ BRAND ColorForward® is a registered trademark of Clariant in many countries.   Luxury perception created with a depth illusion within the bottle walls and a softer surface feel. (Photo: Clariant)