A Dolores High School graduate has re-invented how to market the elk hunter’s favorite “perfume.”
It’s well known around these parts that a good dousing of elk urine masks the human scent while hunting, and the aroma can even attract bulls in heat.
But Emily Harris, a 2013 Dolores graduate and design major at Colorado Mesa University, never liked the shelf appeal of the products on the market.
“All the elk-masking products are just plain plastic bottles with a cheap feeling,” Harris said. “I wanted to give it a more classy look.”
Her product design and packaging, “CLOAK Human Scent Cover,” recently won second place in the Young Designers Competition, which featured 135 entries from 14 schools nationwide.
Her upscale design uses a bottle capped with an antler lid tucked into a stylish wooden box with a hinged top. The CLOAK label features a simple, yet creative elk-and-pine-tree graphic with a mountain outline.
“It was fun. The wooden box relates to the woods, and the antler lid gives it a wildlife touch,” Harris said. “I was raised around hunting, so that’s what drew me to this idea.”
She was awarded $2,500 and a trip to Los Angeles for tours of the cosmetic industry. Her award-winning design for a hunting perfume raised some eyebrows in the trendy urban setting of LA.
“One guy asked me if elk hunting is still something people did,” Harris said. “Another thought the antler was a fake.”
Harris credits arts courses in Dolores schools for giving her a head start in graphic design.
“The design field is competitive, but it’s a rewarding and creative career that is always changing,” she said. “I’m going to research to see if a companies are interested in my CLOAK design.”
