Wilps Design
Beautiful Cosmetic packaging
Wilps Design in Cologne is characterised by a wealth of experience and a creative approach that incorporates female and male inspiration into designs. Here, images in the mind become designs. – from Ute von Buch
Sometimes specialisation comes naturally … In the case of Wilps Design, this could have been the case. As an industrial designer, André Wilps, who founded his agency in December 2012, is rather an exception among packaging designers. “In various advertising agencies in Cologne, I built up the product design division over 13 years and also supported the classic advertising divisions in design. However, as an industrial designer, I was always the exotic one in the agency, with completely independent projects and clients that clearly stood out from the rest of the agency’s portfolio,” he says, describing his career path. Today, he manages his agency together with his wife Myriam. She is responsible for administration, but is also involved in the creative processes thanks to her agency experience: “Like André, I think a lot in images. I immediately develop an emotional connection to words, product names and his design ideas, which sets the mood for me in the creative process, gives me ideas that I discuss with André and gives him inspiration from my perspective. That’s why we complement each other well.” André Wilps is responsible for the concept, design, construction, 3D CAD and technical realisation.
“Our strength lies above all in our technical expertise. We are very familiar with materials, production, filling and packaging processes and often support our customers in the production of our and other designs. To this end, the agency is networked with producers around the world, from which customers and projects benefit. It is important for the creatives that their networks function reliably so that the customer can also rely on quality and production within the specified time frame. “I’m constantly travelling to trade fairs all over Europe,
visiting producers, printers, bottlers and material manufacturers. Because we can only apply what we know about production possibilities in design. “He is often travelling with clients to find new manufacturing processes for design ideas or to improve product sustainability. How did the focus on technology come about? “I always wanted to develop great, successful designs, but I was just as fascinated by the technical side. I’ve always made a point of combining the two. Be it in design through unusual technical solutions or in the technical support of my customers. I have always found the challenge of developing a successful design with a small production budget or with a small production run particularly exciting: the latter earned him the title of Expert Lifestyle, although he also enjoys working on premium fragrances with more options for product features.
Significantly shorter product life cycles and development times demand full commitment, as do rapidly changing sales channels – not to mention sustainability and the environment. The creative summarises what is important today:
“As a designer, you have a significant influence on the form, function and materials of a product. Today, it is no longer enough to simply recognise fast-moving design trends; you also need to have a feel for the sustainability of the product, the manufacturing process and the packaging”.
André Wilps has turned his hobby into a profession. After studying at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, he initially immersed himself in the world of PR events, trade fair stands, shop-in-shop systems and PoS materials. His first projects for the cosmetics industry whetted his appetite for more. He had already specialised in fragrances and cosmetics before Wilps Design was created. The agency focuses on holistic concepts: “This begins with the design concept, continues with the primary/secondary packaging design and ends with all PoS materials that are necessary to successfully place the product in retail. Our CV with a lot of experience from the advertising agency sector is worth its weight in gold. But we don’t just create beautiful designs, we also create designs that have been successful for a long time, such as for Bruno Banani, which has been at the forefront of lifestyle fragrances almost without interruption for 23 years.”
What motivates him most about his job? No two products are the same; there are always new challenges with problems that need to be solved: “I love and thrive on the contact with our customers, suppliers and partners, some of whom have been with us for over 20 years. The industry is like a family that always comes together in new constellations.” He sees creating products that are bought and loved as an appreciation of his work.
It always makes him happy to see the finished product on the shelf at the end of a product development process. Store checks are a particularly challenging event at Wilps. Myriam Wilps describes the different points of view
and how they bring them together: “It’s exciting when, after a store check, we throw together our very different impressions, as everyone looks at things from their own perspective.
While André also looks at new products, shelf space, product presentation and sales figures with the eyes of a designer and entrepreneur, I focus more on the emotionality that a product radiates. I see a product and imagine the appropriate situation – I perceive the desires that the product is supposed to create.”
In addition to customer workshops, André Wilps is also involved in the topic of sustainability with the end consumers of tomorrow. A high school in Cologne, for example, enjoyed a presentation that went down well with the pupils. It’s important to the creative mind to keep the next generation up to date: “Even for us packaging experts, it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between sustainable and non-sustainable packaging. The end consumer is usually overwhelmed by this, has no idea what is important here and often falls for greenwashing products.” However, experience plays an important role here and André Wilps knows: “The topic of sustainability can also be tackled well with conventional materials, if you know how! Less packaging alone is more sustainability and yet an exciting design is still possible
www.wilps-design.de
Source: creativ verpacken 6]2022 33
Ute von Buch
