Sarah Swanson: Process Documentation
Packaging Design, Fall 2018
Photos of Kit box and bag
Photos of Wine Bottle Series
3 Critique Questions
I heard some interesting feedback during crit today. While my sketches varied between boxy and 3D apple designs, it was suggested that I instead do half an apple to incorporate both. It was said that I allow an indent in the back of the bottle so that multiple bottles could stack together with the perch addition sticking out. I could do multiple apple colors, like red, green, yellow, since some of the companies have different flavors (shown in a mockup prehaps since build time on the 3D printer might be lengthy). I also need to pick between a bird feeder and a bird house, since food supply amount needs to be taken into account. If apple flavored, doesn’t need refrigerated, but if apple juice, should be refrigerated. I also need to either accomodate for all bird sizes, or make it a specialty feeder/house for specific birds. The Logoplaste brand makes containers for many liquids, if they have an apple juice brand I will try to use that. If not, I will probably use the Sunmagic brand. The top of the bottle could be a simple cap screw and neck, with an added space to feed through the string.
I think that the majority of the things I heard were useful. I think that this helped narrow down the form more, and gave me more things to consider as I continue to build. I will certainly think about which brand I will be using, and think about how to incorporate both uses moving forward.
I plan on creating 3 digital mockups of my designs, each one informing the next. Hopefully that will bring me to a unique and innovative solution.
3 Crit Questions
I heard a lot of feedback during crit today. Brief F and G were the two I decided to focus on. One required you to give a plastic liquid container a secondary use to promote reusing to reduce waste. The second focused on an innovative way to enhance labels on products. For the liquid idea it was said that I could use the 3D printer or mock up the design. I should focus on a UK brand of juice, and look into UK bird types. I also could use a tree to display, depending on the scale of the container. It would be a neat concept of the apple coming off the tree to be consumed but also being put back on a tree after consumption to where it began. For the innovative label idea, I looked into augmented reality software called Unity. It uses target image identification and produces a 2D or 3D model over that area. During crit I was told that I wouldn’t need to learn the actual software for this concept, just mock it up. Also it was mentioned that I find middle school to college aged products because they were the audience that was most likely to be interested in this type of field. Products that create an action or movement that cannot be seen unless activated was also mentioned, because I could show the consumer the product in action.
Overall I agree with a lot of the suggestions I heard today. I think I will be moving in the direction of the apple juice container, because I feel like I have more ideas for that concept. Also I think that being able to 3D print (if possible) would be a good conversation piece for my portfolio, and a way to introduce a new medium.
I plan on doing more research into the company sponsor and UK brands, popular UK bird species, and continuing my sketches of potential models.
3 Critique Questions
I heard a lot of useful things during crit today. Generally, people liked the pattern of vintage bathing items that I put on the individual soap bar wraps. They said that the blue bucket was overpowering the other items, and that the comb and soap icon needed to be larger. They also mentioned that the pattern should be more random, and that it could say “Ivory Clean” on the wrappers as well. It was brought up that there was a pattern tool in illustrator which I have never used that would be helpful. As far as the bellyband, the class said that it could be mostly blue with white type reversed out of it. As far as the fonts go, I could use a san serif font of the appropriate time period to connect with my concept. I could also make the band thinner, and use two sheets of paper for the final to strengthen the band. I still need to add the ingredients, distribution, and barcode to the fourth side, but most of that information will be almost exactly like the original. The lockup on the sides was more sucessful, so I will adjust the line weight and use that as the main branding. I could also add some illustrations into the band to make them connect.
I think that the majority of these comments were useful, and I think I will be incorporating a lot of these ideas into the final. I think that there a couple minor tweeks to make to the wrapping, but most of the changes were in regard to the bellyband. I think that the wrap was the hardest part for me to work on, so it makes since that it is the area that needs the most revision.
I plan on making the changes mentioned above, and I think that they will benefit the overall design. I think that today’s crit helped me make some final decisions about the direction I wanted to go in.
3 Crit Questions
I heard a lot of things during crit today. People said they liked that I was going towards making it a specialty/artisan soap. They said that I should think about how to incorporate the French/Canadian location where it’s from, the extensive history of the brand, and how to make the packaging more sturdy. They said to keep the main color blue, and to think about Victorian type and the 99 44/100% pure info.
I think that I agree with some of the ideas mentioned today. I think that I should keep with the traditional blue associated with Ivory’s branding. And that it is interesting that it has French words on it. I also think that the packing should be something that it able to be used long term.
I plan on researching the history of the company more, and looking at other soap packaging designs.
Research for Splurchase
Before I discovered the soap that I would chose to purchase, I initially went to the travel sized section of Walmart looking for a variety of inexpensive items. While I was looking around at the assortment of trial sized deoderant, toothpaste bottles, hand sanatizers, and mouthwashes, I thought that soaps and creams might be cheap and worth redesigning. I went to the isle with soaps and shampoos and took the photo above. I felt good about purchasing the 3 pack of soap because I thought it would be easy to take in a number of directions, and that after I used one to try I would still have two unused ones for my project.
While I was using the product, I noticed that when you first apply water to it, the bubbles are large, but as you work in more with less water, the bubble become much smaller and the soap turns more foam-like in consistency. After I used it, my hands smelled good, but you couldn’t really smell anything unless you got really close. After use I would say my hands did not feel moisturized, but they also did not feel dry, so I would say it was average on skin softness after use.
The purpose of this product is to provide the user with clean skin, and from my experience the product and the packaging communicate and generate that result. In this case, I think that the product packaging it truthful, however I think the overall appeal of the product could be improved. It would also be nice if there was a better way to store the product long term.
- Visual Design Critique:
Size/Format: Physical bars are 2 and 2/16ths by 3 and 2/16ths
Typography: serif and san serif type, largest focus on brand
Color Palette: Light blue, dark blue, and white
Photography/Illustration: one small bar of soap and bubbles illustration
Pattern/Texture: small zig zag pattern by bar scent type
Grid System: all type is centered
Pretend the copy is written in a foreign language you do not understand. What do the visual aesthetics of the product’s packaging communicate about it? If I did not speak the language, the little illustration would be the only thing indicating the product to me, and the fact that you can see through the top and bottom of the packaging.
Shelf/Display Placement: View documentation of the product in-store. Does the location provoke purchasing? The bottom shelf is not the ideal location, but it is in the aisle I would expect to find this type of product in.
Does it stand out from surrounding merchandise? If so, how? Not really, most of the other soaps are white and blue or while and green. - Materials and Processes
Amount of packaging (balance of protection vs. waste): The outer wrapper is not ideal for long term storage, but the fact that each bar is individually wrapped is nice.
Paper/plastic/metal/glass/other: Wax paper soap wraping, thin plastic outer wrap
Percentage of recycled content: 0%
Longevity (how likely is the consumer to keep and/or continue using the product after purchase?): How long the soaps will last will depend on how many people use them and how often. It’s a pretty good deal though, they are less than 50 cents a piece. I would say at least a couple months to use them all.
Sustainability (is the product and/or packaging biodegradeable or easily recyclable?): No, the plastic does not look environmentally friendly. - Branding/Messaging
Logo/Tagline Description: Ivory, Pure Clean Trusted for Generations
Contents/Weight/Volume: 3 bars, 3.17 oz each
Ingredients: Sodium Tallowate and/or ET/OU Sodium Palmate, Water, Sodium Palmkernelate and/or ET/OU Sodium Cocoate, Sodium chloride, glycerin, coconut acid, palmkernel acid, Fragrance/parfum, Tallow Acid, Palm Acid, Citric Acid, Sodium Cirate, Terasodiumedta
Directions for Use: None
Warnings: None
Purpose: Ivory Clean is free of dyes and heavy perfumes and reflects over 130 years of experience creating gentle products the whole family can trust. - Product Pros/Cons (create lists of the pros and cons of the product itself)
Pros : Cleans hands, non drying, individually wrapped
Cons: Hard to store long term in current packaging, type heavy design
Final Bottle Series
After the presentation of my bottles, I heard a couple suggestions about how I can continue to edit this piece for my portfolio. It was mentioned that I could use silver foil instead of grey on my white wine bottle, and that the champagne wrap could be more transparent. It was also said that I could edit the colors in Photoshop to make them more vibrant, and that I could make the signatures and bottle “Olafur” type white instead of transparent to see them better.
First Finish Bottle Series
3 Crit Questions
I heard a lot of good comments from students and Bridgette today regarding my wine bottle series. Most people really liked how the transparency changed the look of the bottle. A few ideas on how I could improve it were suggested. Bridgette said that for the box, I should include a sticker to show the barcode and general info. Also, that I could more the closure to the back of the box instead. Inside, I could include a mock up that was full size that you would see once the die cut is added. It was said that I could put foil on the bottles to cover up any problems I had with the cork, and also to relate to the reflective surfaces projects that Olafur has done. All of the shapes, which I cut out individually and attached, could have been set up in illustrator and printed onto one sheet. This was probably the best advice I got, because it will save me a lot of time on the final and achieve the same effect. Finally, it was said that I could move the info on the neck wraps onto the back label instead, to distribute things better.
I agree with most of the things that were said today. I think that after I tighten up these few details, I will have created the bottles that I envisioned at the beginning of this project. I think that reorganizing some of the content will benefit the readability and look of the set, and make it look more professional.
Most of the changes that I listed above will be things that I adjust for the final. I think I am in a good position at this stage, and as long as I work on getting the right materials everything else will come together as I finish designing it.
High School Art Day
Supplies used: Gauze, sticker paper.
3 Questions from Individual Critique
During the 101 crit today, I heard some good feedback about my bottles. I was told that although my neckwrap got shorter, I needed to adjust it a little so that my type has enough of a margin. The type on the neckwrap itself could be colored to match the wine type. Adding the signature to the neckwrap on the champage bottle would be a nice way to add it to that bottle. For the champagne bottle, I could do a full body wrap of the pattern and then hang tag all the information. The artist’s name could fit the shape it sits inside bettter, and that I could use the back of the transparent signature shape and put artist/winery info in a white solid circle on top of it. Also, with the box, I could run the type stacked, so that more of the botttle is viable through it.
I think that I agree with most of the things said during this session, as it helped with ideas and physical concepts as well.
I plan on making most of the changes that were mentioned, as I think they are great suggestions that will improve my overall design. I plan on mocking up the champagne bottle, and adjusting my bottles. Hopefully this weekend I can gather all the supplies I need and start test printing on the clear stickers for Thursday.
3 Questions From Crit
I heard a lot of useful suggestions for how to improve my series during critique today. People said I could do quite a few things to change the design. I could use a common font like helvetica for the warning label body and smaller. It was also noted that I could lose about an inch of paper on the neck wrap (bottom). The wine type and year could rotate vertically, which would improve readability. Since the majority of the stickers will be transparent, the shape containing the signature should be solid so you don’t see the signature backwards. Since black is not a color Olafur uses, it was suggested that I remove that color and either recolor or die cut out. People said I should incorporate the artist’s name (the type version) into the shapes and make it more of an effort to find it. I could also color the neck wrap and make the type white. For the box, it was said that I should die cut the box to make a window of some sort, either with the name or a panel.
I think a lot of the comments were great. I did recieve a lot of directions to go with regarding the box, which I think was very useful. I think keeping one solid shape would be a good idea, and I think I will hide the artist’s name more rather than keep it on the front.
I plan on make the changes regarding the body type, the vertical format for the type of wine, changing the shape with the signature to be solid, and hiding the artists name.
First Finish Wine Bottle Labels
Critique Questions (Answers)
- The title of my identity is Olafur. My wine bottles create a conceptual relationship to wine because it relates to sensation of drinking wine, as in the circles represent how drinking wine makes people more transparent/open and bubbly.
- The clear stickers represent the transparency and use of light/light refractions and color in Olafur Eliasson’s work.
- During critique some people said I could use more circles/layering to make more colors, and that the cursive type on the label was more mature. Perhaps I could use gradients on white sticker paper for the red wine bottle, since the red wine will be difficult to see through. It was suggested that I ask you if I could do a pink wine instead of red, if I wanted to keep the transparency.
- People thought that my two bottle designs were cohesive, so I didn’t receive any comments in that area.
- To improve craft, I will get another bottle this weekend for the next critique.
- For the high end champagne bottle, I plan to create the illusion of a reflective 3D triangle pattern in illustrator and place it on the back of the bottle so that you can see it from the front/inside. I plan on putting the front label either on a wrap (perhaps in the final it will be on a clear sticker that makes it look like it is directly on the glass.) For the box, I plan on using transparent plastic for the front view inside or frosted plastic as the entire container with minimal type.
20 Thumbnail Sketches
3 Links for 9/25
https://www.homebrewing.org/Wine-Bottles_c_278.html
http://www.michaels.com/papercraft/paper/809188525#pmpt=qualifying&sz=24&start=24
2 Idea Boards
3 Critique Questions
Today I heard a lot of ideas that helped me decide which artist I wanted to base my wine series off of. While both artists were interesting, I needed to research both artists more. People seemed to think that I could do a lot more with Olafur Eliasson as far as layering transparencies, colors, reflective surfaces, foil processes, shadows, and gradients etc. Using the bottle as a transparent surface itself, and how the bottle will interact with light were also mentioned.
I think that I could do a lot with both artists, however I am leaning towards Olafur Elisson because I want to try working with new materials and processes. I hope I can use his aesthetic to create a different type of piece for my portfolio.
I plan on doing more research about Eliasson to learn the story behind why his work is what it is and to be inspired with my own project. I also plan to find resources on unconventional paperstocks to potentially use, or customize resources I already have.
Final Shopping Bag and Kit
Comments after Presentation
The comments I received after presenting my project were that I should include more tissue paper for the customer and that there was a typo in my how to card.
3 Critique Questions for Koinobori Box (Second Finish)
I heard a lot of interesting things today in critique about my box design. The addition of labels to the separate items was mentioned to everyone. Overall the class liked the salmony orangeish rather that the red color, and suggested I do a color like my first finish paired with a blue. For the text they said a nice san serif for the body copy would work, they also said to say windsock directly on the lid. As for the scales people said to overlap them to look more like scales, bleed them over the sides more, and cut them off partially when the pattern stops. Comments were made about rearranging some of the sentences, and placing the info from the sides onto the back instead. A fish illustration using the elements I included in the lid was an idea, to show consumers the type of product they would be creating.
I think that most of the ideas are things that I agree could help the design further. While I was under the impression that the “mistake red” was not the red everyone was looking for, everyone wanted it back, so I guess in the end it was a more unique color. When I printed out the scales I also thought they could be more impactful some other way, but didn’t realize that until after I wrapped my box up. I didn’t even consider the bottom of the box as a usable surface, until I saw others using the bottom for the body copy. So I will definitely be making that change.
Moving forward I plan on making changes to the scale pattern, creating labels, changing the color scheme, and changing the body copy and location of it. I also plan to make the fish illustration and clarify verbally what exactly is in the box.
3 Critique Questions for Koinobori Box (First Finish)
The comments I heard in Critique today were very helpful. They especially gave me a better idea of how to connect the differences between the reality of the supplies and the box design I created, which I had been concerned about.
To start, a lot of people didn’t really understand what the box was for, which I completely overlooked by solely thinking of design aesthetic. It was suggested that I incorporate a fish scale pattern to help clue in customers. I also plan to add more text about the product itself. When I told people about the printer making my salmon pink a bright red, they said they liked it and that I should keep it. As far as the logo goes, the tagline is unreadable at such a small scale, and the line weight should be thicker.
As far as the supplies went, Bridgette said not to worry about making the supplies fit the box design, but instead make the design influence the supplies (via color palette and packaging). Someone mentioned that I could make the activity more mature by having the participant cut and glue their own tissue paper fish scales on. To make the paper towel/toilet paper roll fit the box dimensions, you can cut it and wrap it smaller. As far as labeling goes, I was told to make my own labels so people can know what the components are and so that they fit my box theme.
I think the feedback I got today has been very useful. I agree that the tagline in the logo is too small and thin, so I will probably remove the tagline at that size or enlarge the entire logo until it is readable and then change the placement. I also agree that more text needs to be on the outside so that people know what they are buying. I think that some sort fish scale pattern will fit into my design and inform the viewer visually, so they know at the very least that it is a fish based product at first glance. Based on the class reaction, I am going to change one of the main colors from salmon pink to red.
Moving forward I think that I will use the majority of the comments from critique. I will make the minor changes to the logo as far as the weight and tagline are concerned. For the box I plan on adding more informational text to the outside of the box, add a fish scale pattern to the lid, and make the color in my template red and not salmon. I also plan on buying/exchanging some of the materials I bought for ones that fit my color palette better.
First Finish Box Design
3 Critique Questions for Logo and Ideaboards
During critique I heard a lot of interesting things. As far as the logos themselves, a lot of people liked the arrow concept, but felt that it could be applied to any of the designs. They said the third logo felt too 80s or memphis, which I agree. My best logo was the middle one, because it was the most contemporary and fit my box audience and styles better. For the middle logo they suggested I use the arrows from the first, make the explanation point bold to match “Cult” and increase the size/height of the “ivate” part.
As far as my idea boards were concerned, people thought the windsock idea was the one I should go with. Things that were mentioned were making the box revolve around celebrating kids and not just to celebrate the birth of one sex. I also learned that the name of the windsock officially was Japanese Koinobori, which was great information. Also, Bridgette suggested I look at a hand lettering artist named Ryan Hamrick for font inspiration and ideas moving forward.
I think a lot of the feedback I received today was useful. I liked that elements of the individual logos were joined together to complete an idea. I agree that it would be more diverse to include all children when thinking about this box. I think that looking into Hamrick’s work will help me in my design, along with exploring other fonts and artists. And I think that balancing out the logo in terms of style and size will make it feel united.
I plan to read up more on the other purpose of the windsock as a celebration, to adjust the logo based on what I heard during critique in regards to scale and balance, to find or make an animal pattern for the windsock itself, and research font styles.
Idea Boards
5 Box Ideas
Dream Catcher, Totem Pole (North America) spirit animal of a person/ancestor guide, Rain Stick (Northern Chile and Argentina)used when farmers needed rain, Windsock (China and Japan) celebrated the birth of a boy, Day of the Dead Mask.
3 Final Sketches
Thumbnails/Brainstorming
