Matisse Derivan - Proudly Australian Owned and Made
SOME OF THE REASONS BEHIND THE NEW 250ML AND 500ML CONTAINERS
The 250ml and 500ml containers were changed for many reasons and by no means were they changed on a whim, in fact it took over three years from when we first started to look at the packaging to make a decision.
We had been using the distinctive 250ml container with the large black cap for over 25 years and had been manufacturing it ourselves for nearly 20 years and although it was an icon in the art industry it had its faults.
It had a large lid which was easy to grasp and undo, however once the large surface area of thread on both the lid and of the jar had paint on them, it made the perfect seal.and quite often made it difficult to un-seal the jar! Of course this could be overcome by cleaning the top of the jars, (but really life is too short for that!) It was always something in the back of our minds that would need rectifying when the time came to redesign the jar.
It was also decided that the packaging needed to be changed, as we believed it should be an environmentally responsible material (following on from our mission statement - to be an environmentally responsible manufacturer). Therefore research showed us that at that point in time the most recyclable plastic that could be used with our products and give the strength in the container to withstand transportation and meet packaging standards under the Environmental Code of Practice 1997 was PET.
By using PET it allows you to put your empty containers out with your normal recycling. PET also gave the added benefit of being practically clear allowing everyone to see the colour more clearly through the plastic.
PET sounded like the perfect answer - and it was - all except for one point, which was the aperture (mouth) size. When we had this made the manufacturer was not convinced his machine would blow an aperture as wide as the old containers, so what evolved was the widest opening we could find with technology as it stood when we had the moulds for these jars designed. Hopefully in the future this will change as even during the three years we looked at PET, the technology changed considerably.
Economy of space on shop shelves was also found to be a critical factor in shop owners stocking our product - obviously having a great jar with a huge mouth is not much good if it takes up so much room no one will stock it! Using the square shape saves over 30% wasted space!
For our customers out of Sydney where freight starts to play a larger part in the cost of the paints another big factor was transportation - both damage and weight. Damage is regularly caused in transit - the new 250ml and 500ml PET jar in its square format is much stronger than the old round jars whilst being considerably lighter and taking up less space.
As far as a direct benefit to the end user is concerned - one very big benefit is the fill line which is the level to which 250ml or 500ml of paint comes to in the jar. On the old round jar this line was approximately half way up the "thread" which left very little room to overfill the jar (which allows for "shrinkage" and tolerance levels of the filling machines). The new rectangular jar has a fill line on the shoulder for the 250ml and well below the shoulder for the 500ml (it is the line just below the "arch" on the sides) which allows us to overfill the jar considerably therefore even if some of the paint is left in the jar you are still ahead!
So, overall changing to the new jars gives you more paint, which will pack away easier, and be less likely to be damaged. You will also be able to better tell what colours you are purchasing, and do a little for the environment by recycling!
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