Dear customers, dear partners,
Happy New Year!
We’re going back in time to tell you about Lancôme’s marvellous CNY (Chinese New Year) project. MR MOCK-UP LAB had the honour of being selected once again to assist the Lancôme retail team with mock-ups for its limited-edition products.
For the first time, Lancôme is working with Jacky Tsai, a contemporary Chinese artist and friend of the brand. The 2024 Year of the Dragon brings in some new perspectives and majestic visuals 🙂
The mythic Loong, or dragon, was a major source of inspiration in the artist’s multicultural design. His joyful new take on the imagery is a harmonious mixture of symbols recalling love, Paris, and the East.
Lancôme’s main objective was to showcase this rich, lavish, shimmering artwork through meticulous hot stamping.
MR MOCK-UP LAB rose to the occasion, fine-tuning the design with precision and technical skill. The MR ARTWORKS process broke down every element in Jacky Tsai’s illustration into different technical components. The aim was to isolate every detail and sculpt the decor through microstructures to ensure it looks as beautiful as possible.
Then came an essential part of perfecting the design: the test phase.
1/ When selecting the paper, we went from non-coated to coated, which is perfect for accentuating the intensity of this symbolic red in spot colour while avoiding any smears. This above-average grammage can handle being embossed with the logo and some of the plant elements, which brings life and movement to the packaging. It can also incorporate both the 3D effect and the obligatory lamination on the turned-edge boxes. No detail was left to chance.
2/ For the hot stamping stage, we created several tools to test out our ideas, which included an all-gold Loong with and without microstructure. We eventually settled on isolating some of the dragon elements so we could use both CMYK printing and hot-stamp overprinting. We focused on developing production artworks and hot-stamping tools, and trialling feasibility through application tests.
3/ Finally, it was time to try some variations.
The CNY theme was rolled out on five different boxes, a shopping bag, and the aptly named “red pockets” intended for New Year’s gifts.
We adapted the first variation into three rectangular-based turned-edge boxes in S, M, and L sizes (without magnets – CSR played a role in this design too).
The second variation was an all-over print on a turned-edge cylinder.
Finally, we made sure that Lancôme’s Absolue remained faithful to its 100% gold design on a cylindrical box.
As always, these fine-tuning processes helped guide production.
The MR MOCK-UP LAB team is dedicated to applying its expertise to the entire operational process, sharing insight and technical recommendations with local suppliers.
A huge THANK YOU to the Lancôme team for putting its trust in us again, and for its beautiful designs. It was a real pleasure to help bring a design to life, especially when technique makes all the difference 🙂
We are proud to work with you on making dreams come true.
The MR Team
Learn more about Lancôme’s CNY
Learn more about MR
Learn more about MR MOCK-UP LAB
Learn more about MR ARTWORKS
