The next iteration of the much-maligned PET-bodied, double-seamed aluminum topped can has entered commercial production. What differentiates this version from its straight-walled PET/aluminum combo predecessors is its high “Wow!” design quotient—shape, structure, and tactility.

Previous versions of this multi-material structure have included the PETainer introduced in the early 1980s by former plastics packaging giant Owens-Illinois, a look-alike two-piece structure from the Water Investment Network, and Elisha Mineral Water’s container introduced a year ago with an aluminum end and decorated with a full-body PET shrink sleeve.

In February 2005, Najaro Group decided a 12.3-oz version with a full-body shrink label was a novel idea for its FlavH20 water. This version has been creating a stir. Notably, the container is 500 ml, not the standard 350 ml.

Nature’s Very Own brand of bottled water, Ark Land, sports a highly contoured, 7” high body with an interrupted surface pattern that is meant to resemble fish scales—a design complemented by the contour walls that resemble a fish body.

Nowhere on the structure’s walls is there more than 2 millimeters of compression. Previous 350-ml, straight-wall PET cans have required 18-gram to 34-gram preforms—this 500-ml interrupted surface pattern likely requires twice that amount to uniformly distribute resin through its massively thick interrupted pattern walls and down to its petaloid base.

The surface also provides the top load strength necessary for stacking the large pinch-waist, bulbous shoulder container.

Regrettably, I feel the marriage between container, brand, and graphics doesn’t necessarily work. The snow-capped mountains on the paper label are like, well…a fish out of water. But overall, this is a solid package.

By David Luttenberger
From Package Design magazine