EMCHI Nail Products started as a small brand launched from a full-service nail salon in Williamstown, NJ. After a couple years of establishing themselves as both a salon (operating as The Arts Beauty Salon and Spa) and a designer/manufacturer of high quality dip powders, EMCHI found their color portfolio bursting at the seams with 180+ selections.
In order to promote their color offerings, EMCHI approached me to help with designing a new product brochure for them. I visited the salon (pre-COVID) and was handed two items: EMCHI’s current brochure and a custom cut roll fold from a nail lacquer company they use as a supplier. The directions were simple: take the directions from this brochure, put it in a new one with all 180 color swatches and do something like the custom diecut roll fold.
Right.
So over the course of two weeks, I had some back and forth with Nicole, a nail tech at the salon and also one of the managers at Emchi, who was sending me the color photographs piecemeal. Eventually I received all 180 colors, as it was really everyone waiting for the photographer and his editing of the photographs I would also need.
I found designing the diecut version to be really fun and interesting!
About a month later, the product was complete. At the request of Nicole, I reached out to a few printers to get estimates, however it was here we reached a bit of a wall that needed to be climbed over.
The cost was too much. What I had to explain was that for anything diecut, the first run will be expensive, because they have to make the die, but every run after that will be cheaper, so as long as you keep that shape.
They weren’t going for it, and understandably so—it was a big cost. So, to keep the dollar signs down for a bit, we moved to a rectangular format.
After all was approved…
I was asked to make it into a square format.
Okay, no problem!
This is the final, final, FINAL version. It’s also the version they include in all orders you make online.
However, it’s already outdated, as they are WELL over 200 colors now and are continuously releasing new products and adding on to the spectrum. They’re rapidly growing and maybe in the future we can revisit the diecut option!
