Many consumers believe that when it comes to laundry, more detergent equals cleaner clothes. But that simply is not true and is destructive to clothes and washing machines. Whirlpool Corporation identified an opportunity to provide consumers with a product that makes it easy to pour the exact amount of detergent needed to clean and care for a load of laundry while protecting their washing machine. Introducing Swash.

Deskey was hired to design the packaging for this new-to-the-world liquid laundry detergent. Swash packaging needed to solve three challenges. First, it had to be counter-worthy, beautiful enough to fit the modern consumer’s design aesthetic and be stored on the countertop. Second, because the formula is ultra-concentrated, the package needed to be highly functional with a dosing mechanism that delivers a precise amount of detergent with each use. Third, because the product is sold online only, the package needed to complement the digital experience that is part of Whirlpool’s larger brand story.

Counter-worthy:
Beautifully minimalistic, the package features only the essential graphic elements needed to communicate the brand (logo) and what the product is (SKU name and SOI). Its solid, all-white bottle form has a simple, essential shape with elegant, rounded shoulders. An uncomplicated flip cap completes its simplicity of form. We designed this package to be displayed proudly on a laundry room shelf by our target consumer, who values their belongings and has an elevated sense of style.

Functional:
The Swash brand is built on a foundation of precision dosage and its value for both our consumer’s belongings and their washing machine’s performance and longevity. The package form needed to reflect these values and help our consumer use the exact amount of detergent needed, no more and no less.

The detergent formula is 8x concentrated, so just a tiny amount—one-third ounce (about two teaspoons)—cleans a load of laundry. This small amount is difficult to measure into a traditional screw-on cap, so we opted for a self-dosing pour cap that is activated when the bottle is turned upside down and squeezed. The pour cap contains a one-way check valve that releases exactly one-third ounce of detergent when the consumer gives the bottle an authoritative squeeze. Invisible from the exterior, the check valve automatically stops dispensing once one-third ounce has been delivered. Loads are described in terms of squeezes. One squeeze = a regular load; two squeezes = a large load.

The bottle form is perfectly designed to complement and support the precision pour cap. It holds 30 ounces of detergent, which is about 84 loads. With its slender form, the bottle can be held, turned over and squeezed with one hand. This combination of precision pour cap and squeezable bottle form creates an easy way to achieve precise dosage with minimal steps (no mess, no pouring into a secondary cap or measuring device) and an intuitive gesture (squeezing).

Designed for e-commerce:
We designed the package for this online-only brand to be quiet. Unlike traditional laundry packaging that has to live on shelf, stand out in dimly lit stores and scream really hard to get attention in a vibrant and loud category, Swash doesn’t need to scream. It lives solely in the e-commerce world on D2C sites, social media and digital ads and is always shown in context of or surrounded by brand.

Additionally, Swash was built on a foundation of educating consumers — explaining the value of precision dosing and its effect on their machines. On a traditional package, this would require a lengthy, information-heavy scroll, which we knew could not be the job of packaging if it were to maintain a counter-worthy aesthetic. This gave us the freedom to simplify the pack, be visually free from excess RTBs and claims and support a fully digital purchasing experience.

Altogether, this approach is a monumental shift in how the industry traditionally evaluates the a package’s success. It shifts how we see package design in the e-commerce era.