PROJECT AUTHOR

Thomas Adey

Salacia

The Project Brief

This project had a set of interesting boundaries. I had to create a product that uses seaweed in a way, and that product had to be called Salacia. More importantly, this product was required to have its own believable story attached to its creation, serving as an origin point for the product.

The Process

Researching the applications of seaweed, I found a recent study that discovered that the enzymes produced by bacteria on seaweed – used to detach them from its surface – has properties that allow it to lift stains from fabrics. This would be the primary selling point of the product, and it was established early on that my version of Salacia would be a form of laundry product. In creating a story for the brand, I researched the origin of the name Salacia, which is the name that belonged to a goddess of the sea in Roman mythology. I wanted to explore the Roman scene further as there was a unique focus on cleanliness in their civilisation, which lead to the discovery of the Fullo, a person tasked with washing clothing using unusual ingredients like fat and urine (both of which have qualities proven by modern science to actually work!).

From here, the story was shaped. A fuller named Amadeus was a worshipper of the sea. In his declarance of devotion, he added seaweed to his quota, yielding exceptional results that could just as easily have been seen as a sign of favour from the gods. The knowledge of his masterwork spread, and would eventually be explained by science in the modern day.

The End Result

My version of Salacia is a collection of laundry detergent pods with a key focus on sustainability. Inspired by the product Notpla (compostable plastic made from seaweed), these pods contain the enzyme that allows dirt to be lifted from stains on colder temperature washes, which saves household energy and leaves no waste. This brand includes the story as a key part of its packaging, and uses a logo inspired by alchemical symbols for earth and modern symbols for low-temperature laundry washes.

This project also includes a brand manual.