blog
design star
posted October 26, 2011 by alexis |
the first two beauties in our new DESIGNED FOR GOOD hand wash series were designed by method’s own artsy smartsy (creative director extraordinaire), Sally Clarke. so we thought we’d conduct a short interview and get her perspective on these limited edition gems.
Sally, you’ve been designing soap for method for the last four years. why was now the right time for a platform like DESIGNED FOR GOOD?
DESIGNED FOR GOOD is our way of talking about all the good that we consider when making a bottle of hand wash. at method we’ve always created responsibly sourced and sustainable cleaning products—from the plastics we use, to the plant-based formulations, to our biodiesel truck fleet—it’s part of our DNA. DESIGNED FOR GOOD is a dynamic series that will spotlight different aspects of sustainability, cause partnerships and potentially even some crowd sourcing. we have so many ideas. the future looks exciting.
what’s the idea behind the first DESIGNED FOR GOOD series?
our first series of DFG highlights the plastic that we use to make our bottles. many companies will claim 25% or 50% recycled content but our PET bottles are made from 100% post consumer resin, meaning that we make our bottles from old bottles. this pre-loved plastic is gathered from curbside recycling and helps the planet by not creating more virgin plastic. and of course it’s 100% recyclable. so I like to think that there might be a little bit of an old method bottle in every new method bottle we make.
the bottles are so different from anything else method has done. what was the inspiration behind the designs?
I love mid-century design and wanted to do a modern interpretation on the patterns of that era. I like the idea that everything old is new again, which seems a lovely design analogy for our recycled plastic.
and the new bottles are shrink-sleeved. why did you decide to do that?
shrink sleeves give us so much opportunity to play with design, color and pattern in a way we’ve not been able to do before on our little teardrop-shaped bottle, but there is also a sustainability advantage. we visit recycling centers regularly and realized that the few bottles we manufacture in colored plastic weren’t making it into the recycling stream. shrink film provides a great alternative because it’s easily stripped off, ensuring that each bottle makes its way back into the recycling stream rather than being shipped off to a landfill. this is why we’re in the process of switching our colored bottles over to colored shrink sleeves.
can you give us any hints about what might be next for DESIGNED FOR GOOD?
we’re still working on trying to narrow down our options (there’s never a shortage of great ideas at method), but perhaps you will see a great partnership with a cause close to our heart.
