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DirtyGirl
Soap is perhaps the quintessential consumer product.
It’s universal—the most basic of all products. But beyond its basic concept, soap’s variables are
endless, which probably accounts for the huge number of body-care products on the market today.
With a name like Dirty Girl, a soap can’t help but stand out. The name immediately identifies the tar-
get audience—young women. But is the product for those dirty in body or dirty in mind? Through
specialty shops and mail or Internet order, the playful innuendo tapped into the buying conscious-
ness of a surprising number of consumers during its first year available.
Mitch Nash, co-owner and art director of Blue Q, the soap’s producer, says that “People are asking
for it in stores, which is unbelievable to us. Now, we’re getting into extensions like body cream.”
Why has this product proved so popular when so many other bath products already fill the market?
“Those products are about smell or feel. Dirty Girl marries concept, a strong theme, with product. It
really stands for something. Our philosophy is to work with high-level designers who bring incred-
ible sophistication to incredible products. Then we embrace mass production, making the product
affordable but still very intimate.”
Nash’s chose designer Haley Johnson of Haley Johnson Design of Minneapolis. Nash came to her
with a relatively complete brief in autumn 1998. Blue Q wanted an upscale, feisty feel to the soap,
something that would appeal to a sophisticated and jaded clientele. They knew the name of the soap
at that time, but not its smell, color, or packaging.
Mitch Nash, art director for Blue Q,
says that his company is not selling
soap: Instead, they’re selling con-
cept. The concept sells the soap,
decidedly the case for Dirty Girl
soap. It has a wonderful lily scent
and quality ingredients for the skin.
But the product’s graphics first catch
shoppers’ attention.
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“I had been working with Blue Q
for the past several years on
other projects. They were
mainly into refrigerator mag-
nets up to this point, so the
soap was something very dif-
ferent. But they always want to
take a very household kind of
product and turn it into some-
thing unexpected,” Johnson
says. “They didn’t have a truly
focused marketing plan, which I
think is the beauty of the proj-
ect. We wanted to just see what
would happen.”
They brainstormed for names
to create an expansive list of
possibilities. Dirty Girl offered
the right spirit of fun. “When I
heard ‘dirty girl,’” Johnson says, “I thought, ‘well, girls get dirty and they need to take a shower.’ But
then you might think of something more burlesque or something not so sweet and innocent. Also,
if you are dirty and need to bathe, you have to take your clothes off, too.”
The character she developed is a charming mix of innocence and flirtation. “I wanted to show on the
packaging how naively happy she was with her soap. She has a bit of attitude, but she’s not too far
over the top,” explains Johnson, who illustrated the entire box, including the boxes’ end flaps.
Johnson also focused on the construction of the soap’s packaging. A box provided better shelf
appeal, but unlike a paper wrapper, it permitted shoppers to open and close the package many
times, which could damage both the product and the packaging. To solve this problem, Blue Q
designed a box with three small holes in its sides: Buyers could easily smell and even peek in at the
soap. The holes were placed strategically so that they would work within Johnson’s illustrations as
bubbles.
Even the copy on the box has the same quirky, fun flavor. Nash admits that some of it intentionally
doesn’t make complete sense. “But it’s amusing,” he adds. “It makes people spend time with the
product.”
The soap has been so successful that other body products have been added quickly to the line. Blue
Q is looking into developing an apparel line. “We’ve been surprised at the passion of the public. Dirty
Girl isn’t just another thing to them; it seems as though we’re tapping into a submerged dynamic.
When women see this, it is so obvious that someone has spent a lot of time to make this especially
for them. That really matters,” Nash says, noting that this kind of attention does cost money. “With
our approach, you add value faster than you add expense. The return on great design is good. We’re
not selling soap; we’re selling concept. The concept sells the soap.”
The Dirty Girl concept has proven so
popular that Blue Q has developed
new products with the same flirty,
fun sensibility, including bubble
bath.
CREDITS
ART DIRECTOR: MITCH NASH
DESIGNER: HALEY JOHNSON
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Instead of using a standard rectangular card to hold
lip gloss, Blue Q and Haley Johnson designed this
slightly naughty package.
More products from the Dirty Girl line.
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Continuing with the idea of using a
strong concept to sell product, Blue Q
also has developed Tough Guy—with a
very manly scent, of course—and Wash
Away Your Sins soap. The latter’s box
says it is “Tested and Approved for All 7
Deadly Sins” and lists instructions that
include lathering, rinsing, and repenting.
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