LUSH

At the weekend I went to Manchester for a bit of shopping, but whilst I was there I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The cosmetics shop 'LUSH' was having a bit of a celebration, a Mexican celebration at that! Just outside the shop there were two employees, dressed head to toe in authentic Mexican apparel, complete with Sombreros and face paint to make them look like 'calaveras'. I knew I had to go in as it was perfect primary research for my project. I picked up a leaflet with appropriate Mexican design and photographed it. Below you can see the front and the back, notice the use of the 'papel picado' influence.

Inside the shop, there wasn't that much difference from its usual appearance, except for the clever placement of a few sombreros and 'Doritos'. Therefore I thought the next logical step would be to visit the website and see if there was any other information available. I came across the day of the dead section and began to read what they had to say. As you can see below the design from the leaflet has been carried over to the banner on the web page, helping add a sense of fluidity. Once on the website I discovered that the chain had created three special limited edition products for the holiday. Each one had an inspired name; Calavera - meaning skull, Calaca - meaning skeleton and Lady Catrina - a popular image associated with the celebration. Below is a capture of the web page.

From the main page you are able to navigate to three individual pages, dedicated to each one of the products. The first product is a particularly beautifully looking bar of soap inspired by the traditional head dress originating from this image. I like how you are able to see the ingredients in the products and think the inclusion of 'agave nectar' is poignant. The second limited edition is a specially designed bath bomb which releases marigold petals when dissolved, another clever addition as the marigold is widely associated with the day, sometimes names the 'flor de muerto'. The last product is a skull shaped shower jelly available in three different colours; green, orange and yellow. I think maybe the colours red, green and white may have worked better with association techniques, however I'm sure this was considered and probably not possible. The colours chosen to fit better within the 'citrus fruits' constraints.

Catrina

Calavera

Calaca

Lastly, another promotional consideration they used was large window decals in the shape of skulls. The colours of these decals where particularly bright and therefore eyecatching, catching the attention of what I'm sure was not just me. Below is an image of one of these decals placed in a prime advertising spot, the front window.