Icing Tubes

Within this post I am addressing the issue of whether to use my chosen blue, pink and yellow colour palette on my icing tube or the corresponding colours to the icing inside each tube. Initially I had thought that I would use orange for orange and green for green etc. but now am realising this won't look right with the rest of my package. So therefore below are a few experiments with my three main colours, trying to show as much differentiation as possible.

I have definitely decided on using the three chosen colours, and below shows further experimentation with these. The designs are more intricate than others I have previously worked with, and I think I like them a lot more. I'm not sure which one out of the three I like the best, although I do feel using the yellow as the main colour may be a little overwhelming and the text also seems to be washed out slightly.

Icing Tubes

I took my ideas from the wide selection of drawings I created and designed my favourite one using Illustrator. Below is a capture of my final seven coloured tubes. The colours shown here are not 100% definitely the ones I will go with, but its nice to visually see the range I will create. Obviously the intention here is to pair up the icing with the corresponding colour, however if later on I decide on a more specific colour scheme these designs may look out of place. In terms of design I like how I have used the Spanish word for each colour, and added the English version below in slightly smaller type. I think this is a fun little addition and if it helps the kids learn a little Spanish in the mean time then where is the harm.

Icing Tubes Development

Today I was told that I needed to do far more visual experimentation, so I did. I figured a good way to start would be to design as many variations on my icing tubes as possible. I started by creating 26 different designs, all drawn in black ink, so as not to give an advantage or disadvantage to any in particular. Below are images of my design sheets. Once I had drawn such a variety I then went over to circle my six favourite ones.

I then went on to draw the entire colour range for each of my six favourite designs. This time I did use colour and it helped to gage what each tube will look like. The images of these sheets are below.

Once I had drawn all of those designs I then had to narrow my choices down even further. I decided to pick two of the six that I think worked best. The ones I liked where number one and number five on the sheets above. However I soon began to think how I would get these graphics onto the tubes themselves. I always thought that I would get the designs printed onto sticker paper and then simply apply them to my pre-bought tubes. So I tried this idea quickly with a simple design and double sided tape, it did not work very well. It was far too fiddly and I was finding that I was losing a lot of detail. So I began to wonder if I could make a net that could be constructed into a tube. Turns out it is a lot simpler than first thought and the net is a simple rectangle folded and glued in just the right places, which is then stuck to the bottom of an icing tube nozzle. Below is an image of two tubes that I made; red and green. This idea is a lot better because I can now design the range of colours all digitally and using Illustrator the detail can be quite intricate. It also means that I have free range over the seven colours and can pick any shade or tint that I wish, therefore they can be as bright as possible.