Conveen Optima has won an award for its brilliant packaging. The PharmaPack Award was given to the handy, green box at the International PharmaPack Exhibition in Paris, France on February 2. Coloplast  receives the award in the 'medical device' category.

Packaging: Think out of the box

Innovative pack - and product

Silicone can be folded, and can still pop back to its original shape

When designing award winning packaging you need to think out of the box. And so the designers have been looking into other industries. Conveen Optima was designed after careful study of other men’s products, including health/beauty packaging and sports cars.

"We know from our end-users that it's important to them that the product does not look medical," says Henrik Lindenskov who - together with former Coloplast designer, Marlene Corydon - is one of the main creators of the product.

"End-users don't want to draw attention the their needs, and that is why we try to design a discreet look that looks like other stuff you could carry with you in everyday life."

Discreet and handy
The French panel was impressed by the convenient design of the pack "looking more like a mint dispenser than a medical device". But to design such a small pack, you need to have an innovative product too.

"An important pre-condition for the Optima packaging concept is the silicone material of the actual urisheath," says Mette Fenger, Marketing Coordinator in Global Marketing. She explains:

"Silicone can be folded, and can still pop back to it's original shape. Other urisheath materials cannot. So, the silicone material is actually what has made the compact packaging possible. That makes life easier for the end-users, since they don't need to carry that much with them ." 
The redesign reduced the size of the product package by 75%.