STRUCTURAL PACKAGE DESIGN
Smucker’s
Magic Shell
Bottle Design
In 1982, JM Smucker Co. purchased the Magic Shell® ice cream topping brand that turns hard like a shell on your ice cream in just seconds. The 7.25-oz plastic bottle that went into production was slim and plain. While it did not take on the jelly jar shape one might associate with the Smucker’s brand, the structure also made no physical or emotional connection to the product's unique features.
Original Bottle
Concepts À la Mode
Four things were a must for the new design:
Fun, custom, and relevant.
Greater on-shelf presence.
Larger graphic area.
Maintain the 7.25-oz volume.
Topping the Original
The final bottle design achieved each of the client’s goals.
To achieve a fun and custom look, a subtle flowing detail was designed to mimic the flow of the topping over ice cream.
A greater on-shelf presence was achieved by simply making the bottle wider.
A wider bottle naturally allowed for a larger label.
Within Autodesk’s Alias 3D rendering platform, I was able to maintain the 7.25-oz volume as I developed and refined the shape.
Cherry on Top
The new bottle developed framed the development of new graphics. I was only responsible for the bottle design. However, the inspiration for the turtle character came from one of the concepts that I developed. The in-house design team nicknamed the character “Ed”.
