Assignment 01 / Health + Beauty

Research (Images/ ideas that inspire)

  

Initial concept

Creating a soap brand that is all-natural with emphasis on the use of recycled and recyclable packaging. This particular brand uses essential oils to offer a variety of woodsy scents, such as teak wood, balsam, and cedar wood. Marketed as a utilitarian soap for both men and women.

Brand Name: Bear Naked (Soap Co.)



Word lists


Soap:

suds                 sponges                  fun shapes
clean                soapy water           gift items
bath                  simple                   party favors
bubbles            cleansing               soap sets
water                soft skin                dish soap
shower              fresh                     scrubbing bubbles
lather                bath water             washing
rinse                 washing machine
"splish splash, I was taking a bath"

Natural:

clean                 refreshing            simple
recycle              environment        environmentally friendly
nature                grass                   dirt
trees                  canvas                 twine
relaxed              handmade           off-white/cream color
bees                   flowers                clean air
crisp                  outdoors              no post-processing
woodsy              dye-free              mountain fresh
chemical-free                              "natural woman" song lyric

Teak wood:

tree                    wood                  woodsy smell
outdoors            nature                 aromatic
natural               musk                  perfume
cologne             scenic                 Winter/Fall
fireplace            mountain            masculine/feminine
wood grain        grey color           distinct smell (aroma)
dark green foliage

Bear:

fuzzy
furry
cuddly
large
grizzly
teddy bear

Naked:

bare
nude
nude beach
vulnerable
without
minimal




Sketches

Type Treatments

(Sample / Font Name)

After more research, I discovered a font called skinnyserif that I decided to use to typeset my package design.

As a complimentary font, I chose Hasta Grotesk.






















 
Mood Board

Design Process



Logo Design

 Initially I began with designing the logo. I knew I wanted to incorporate a bear into the logo as a play on the word "bare" and "bear".

When selecting a typeface for the brand, I chose something that reflected a "woodsy/nature" feel. I was really drawn into a font called skinnyserif. When the company name was typeset in this it resembled a bear which helped evolve the logo.

Starting with a silhouette of a grizzly bear, I continued to evolve the logo until I settled upon the simplicity of the second one.








Layout Design #1 (Initial blocking)

I wanted to have a neutral color palette, so I used black and white elements on a brown cardboard stock image.

I started out by just getting a sense of how the colors, type, and other elements looked together.

I made a repeated tree pattern to place in the background at a low opacity to give a little more depth and texture to the image.

 Layout Design #2 (Initial blocking)

The first two designs on the left were based off of a more involved box design to house my custom bear molded soap. Due to the size and volume of the soap, a sturdier box design was needed. So I came up with a two piece package.

The smaller base box would include an insert that would help stabilize the soap and help prevent possible breakage.

I wanted to incorporate the wraparound text design from the main display box onto the bottom one. This is where I chose to further emphasis the scent of the soap.

I also included the logo of the company on both the top and bottom lids. I chose to do this to connect the bear image and name on the cover as a complete identity.











Layout Design #3 (Initial Blocking)


Upon reflection, I created a simplified box design for a more basic soap shape and weight. Although I have rethought the idea of a bear shaped soap, I still like the idea of a custom soap shape. Because the soap is emphasizing the scent of the woods, I feel that maybe making the shape into that of logs or tree stumps may be more appropriate and user friendly.

I also changed the orientation of far left side panel "cedarwood" to better fill the space and adding more graphical elements to both the front and side panels.




Final Layout


I continued to refine the placement of my type and graphical elements.
I created vector illustrations for my product information and tried a different location for the barcode. I felt by moving this element it freed up room for more product information, making it appear less cluttered, as well as eliminating the redundancy of the logos. Although, I did place the logo behind the barcode to make it a little less plain.






I made the decision to make a cylindrical soap block that will be wrapped in a thin paper with the scent printed onto it.

I went ahead and made an extra template to showcase how the type and graphic elements would change depending upon the scent of the soap.

After I made my packages and took pictures, I realized that there was still an unfinished look about the product. I went back and added a color transparency to select places on the design. This created a unifying element to the overall design choices as well as added better legibility to certain areas.








 

Final Product Images

Images with Design Corrections

Package Design Examples

Mighty Nuts Packaging by Maija Rozenfelde

Image Source: http://www.rozenfelde.com/Mighty-Nuts

There are some really great package designs being created right now, but what really sets apart Rozenfelde's creation has to be its simple complexity. I use the oxymoron "simple complexity" because the design itself is fairly straightforward, but the re-purposing of the packaging as something more than just a design element raises the complexity of the piece to one of innovation.

Another nice element is in the use of typography. The product information is displayed in a varying range of type styles, fonts, and orientations that add a dynamism to the overall aesthetics and is a nice differentiation from the norm.

Added to this is the overall shape of the packaging itself. The packaging clearly expresses its contents, further emphasizing its selling point.

Whitebites Packaging by Cecilia Uhr

Image Source: http://www.ceciliauhr.co/whitebites/

Another great package design is illustrated by Cecilia Uhr's "Whitebites." Uhr's design is great in its clean, crisp, and whimsical nature. It offers hassle free packaging, yet retains a very dynamic design element to engage and draw in consumers.

The main design element features hand-drawn illustrations with open cut mouths to showcase the product. The protruding ears double as the opening flap for the box as well as a place to hang the package. These are nice in their functionality as well as their added value in the overall aesthetics of the finished product.