Since opening Arrojo Studio I always dreamt of having my own product line. However, I'm a firm believer that you must have a successful, well-established business before launching a product. The time is now because we've gone from strength to strength, reaching a plateau that has allowed us to enter this very competitive market.

Really, the concept was simple: to create products that would be easy to understand - we want the consumer to be able to pick it up and know exactly what it does inside ten seconds and, as hairdressers working on the salon floor everyday, it had to match our own high expectations of product performance. We rigorously tested and refined each formula until we were completely happy. Previously Iíve assisted Aveda, KMS and Wella with their own product development, so it was great to put these experiences into Arrojo Product. As for the packaging design, I see it as a reflection of the Arrojo Brand ñ youthful, modern and direct with a fuss-free simplicity.

For me it's very important that we control everything in-house at Arrojo. I truly believe this ensures the integrity of everything we do, and gives us the best chance of continued success in the future. For five years we've been working to this goal so I'm very proud the packaging design, the copy and the colors were all created at the Arrojo Creative Offices, while the product benefits and the fragrances were both tested by our team before anyone else.

This is the beginning of a new company; a business venture we wholeheartedly believe in, and a hair product we love.

To get the performance benefits right was a matter of testing and tweaking, tweaking and testing, over and over until we were sure the performance was perfect. Finally we found the pro-vitamin B5 complex matched all our expectations in terms of hair and scalp benefits, and it's this unique complex that now goes into all our products.

We wanted a nice pleasant fragrance that wasn't too common but worked well with the product. Our fragrance journey went through fruity, berry and musky aromas, all custom designed for us. In the process we discovered having Arrojo signature fragrances would be fantastic for the product and fantastic for the brand. Once we were introduced to rhubarb, berry musk and lavender pear we immediately felt we'd found our key fragrances, the essence of Arrojo Product. After a few formula modifications we had our fragrances, and their quality matched that of the pro-vitamin B5 complex.

With the packaging, again, we were trying to reflect the positioning of the brand. We sourced minimalistic, clean-cut bottles, which would suit our modern design and the straightforward approach of the product.

When we started this long journey the commitment was to a simple, efficient product of the highest quality. And that commitment has dictated the ingredients, the fragrance and the packaging. After many modifications, sampling, testing, printing and re-design we finally have our product. It's been an exciting experience and to me, itís the ultimate perfect product!

If there are four words to describe the Arrojo Brand then, for me, they are: contemporary, creative, direct and unpretentious. And I wanted to reflect this in the product bottle text. To make every word tell so we would communicate each product's individual benefits most effectively. By way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness and sincerity I believe we achieved our goal.

If you look at, say, Defrizz Serum, in eight words (eliminates frizz, controls fly-aways and eases excess volume) we've been able to communicate exactly what this product does in a way the consumer can read, understand and, most importantly, identify with, quickly and easily.

It was the same clean and simple principle for the directions. But we also wanted to tap into the wealth of styling knowledge we have in the salon. Not just the generic directions you see on every product bottle but easy advice that comes straight from the salon and would actually help the consumer get the maximum performance benefits out of the product.

Overall, I think the text is a triumph for simplicity, a reflection of our brand and something I'm really proud of writing.

In designing the look of Arrojo Product the team set out a number of objectives: each product should be identifiable by its color; the Arrojo name to be clear and readable; the range should be clean and simple; both front and back should be strong in design and meet all the legal requirements.

As with everything, I like to design with function over form in mind and not the other way around. Of course the look is important but even a bottle of shampoo needs to work. When you pick-up a hair product, you want to know who makes it, what the product is, how is it going to benefit me and how do I use it.

At Arrojo we strive to make everything we do as simple to use, and as clean and minimalist as possible. This defines the Arrojo brand and the product was no exception. Simplicity is the key to great design. Less is always more. You can immediately identify what it is you're holding, what it's going to do and how to use it, without ever needing to turn the bottle. By the use of color, this really drives home the point. I wanted the consumer to be able to recognize their products of choice by not needing to be near them and reading them but by simply looking for their product colors. The minimal design keeps the product design from dating and maintains the integrity of the Arrojo brand.

I believe that we have achieved all our objectives with the product line. It really works from the packaging and design, right through to the way it performs.