Box Vox

packaging as content

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February 22, 2012

ABC Bottles

More to spell out on the subject of letter-shaped package design…

The drawings above are from Mikelyn Roderick’s 2003 patent for “Letter and Number Shaped” bottles.

I couldn’t find the product as envisioned here, although I did find a matching “A” and “B” bottle on eBay. I suppose the manufacturer may have originally made all 26 letter-shaped bottles, but if certain letters just didn’t sell well, those letters may have been discontinued.

Below are three vintage perfume bottles that represent my best effort at finding A, B & C shaped examples….


On left: Liz Claiborne bottle (via: Gisellez); center: Beau Belle by Bourjois (via: Perfume Projects); on right: early Chanel bottle with “C” cap (also from: Perfume Projects)

Tomorrow’s subject? X-Y-Z boxes.

(Roderick’s patent, after the fold…)

–Randy Ludacer

2 Responses to “ABC Bottles”

  1. Daniel says:
    February 23, 2012 at 11:26 am

    If ever there were a need for serifs, here is is! ‘F’ and ‘P’ pitch to the right! ‘T’, ‘V’, and ‘Y’ scheme incessantly to fall one way or the other! ‘Q’ might be stabilized with its tail; but ‘J’ and ‘O’… well, I think that ‘J’ and ‘O’ are hopeless.

  2. Randy Ludacer says:
    February 23, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    Hmmm. You make a good point. Some of those bottles would certainly not stand up to consumer testing. There is precedent, however, for using certain packaging prosthetic accessories to correct for this problem…
    http://www.beachpackagingdesign.com/wp/2011/07/torpedo-bottle-stands.html