Assembling Final Products

Today I had a session booked in the print room for my final resolutions. Below are a few images of the different aspects of my final packaging. The first image is of my 'decorational items' packaging, printed onto 115gsm tracing paper. I chose tracing paper for these particular nets because I would like for the customer to be able to see what is inside the bags, without necessarily having to open them up. The second image is of a brand new scalpel I bought in order to ensure neat, clean lines on all of my final nets. An essential!

Below are my final seven icing tube nets, before assembly. As you can see I chose to go with a colour scheme that ran within the rest of the packaging, rather than assign each icing tube with the appropriate colour. I think I chose to have the pastel blue as the main colour as it not too vibrant and therefore painful on the eyes. Instead the really bright yellow and pink are left for highlighting and enhancing.

Below is an image of what the two parts of my sleeve looked like when cut out as precisely as possible and then scored and folded in all the right places. Obviously this picture may make no sense to someone who was not as involved with the design process as I was, however when the two nets are brought together, all becomes clear. The image below that shows the detail of the designs on the edges of the sleeve, and the high contrast between the blue and pink, with a nice yellow intermission.

Amid the mess on my desk below are probably the two most vital components of my product. On the left is the fully cut out net for the bottom half of my product, and on the right is the top half. This image was obviously taken before I scored and folded all the edges in on themselved to create a solid piece of design.

Lastly is an image of me using a large ruler and an incredibly sharp scalpel to shred some yellow tissue paper that I purchased. This shredded paper would then be placed within the bottom of my packaging, to act as 'padding' whilst also adding a nice aesthetic. I thought of this idea when researching kids baking kits and found that it was a popular choice. Evidence of this can be found here.

Final Colours

Below you can see screen captures of the final composition and colour scheme that I am going with. The top image is of the bottom half of the packaging with the back side of the sleeve places strategically over where it will sit when fully constructed. Because it is the back of the package I have kept the detail as minimal as possible so as not to distract from the intricacy on the front. The bottom half obviously has to be slightly smaller in measurement due to the fact that the top has to slide nicely over the top without it being too tight or having too much wiggle room.

The next image shows the front of the package and how the front side of the sleeve fits over the top. As is evident, I have decided to go with blue as the predominant colour with pink, white and yellow acting as highlighting colours. I am proud of my final designs and think they work very well in appealing to children whilst still fitting within the constraints of making it look sophisticated for the parents. Also the bright and colourful nature relates very well to my original inspiration, Mexican culture.

Top Piece of Skull

In order to use the design features in Illustrator to the best of my ability it was necessary to compose a net that would be used for both the top and bottom of my skull package. I started by obviously taking my hand rendered prototype and measuring out the dimensions. I then when on to construct a very simple rectangular version, like the one below to the right. Because the dimensions had to dead accurate I did not want to measure corner angles and the length of diagonal lines, so I used simple boxes to construct an outline, if you will. I then used this make shift creation as a guide and took the pen tool around the edges to create a definitive shape. It may seem like a long winded and confusing way to do this, but it makes sense to me, and if I where to create a complicated net using Illustrator again I would most likely use the same approach. Below is a screen shot of what I am trying to explain, with the rectangular version on the right and the finished one on the left.

Then I obviously copied the layer and flipped it vertically in order to have a complete shape. Onto this I added flaps and tabs. Below you can see the difference between certain areas of the net by me using slightly different shades of green. In the bottom right corner you will notice a couple little add ons. These are essential nets that are constructed separately but then added to the area of the main net that has no flaps. Its a complicated process, but again it makes sense to me.

Once I had my skull shaped canvas definitely designed I could then move onto what will go on the front of it. I started by designing what I thought looked like a simple skull facade. The essential aspects that had to be present included; two eyes, one nose and a mouth with quite striking teeth. Again I am not entirely sure about colour yet so I just used whatever ones I felt worked best. Below is a screen shot of my eye designs. I started with a simple circle and just expanded outwards and outwards until I had something quite detailed. I think it is pretty obvious but just incase you have never seen the object, I took inspiration from the 'Aztec Stone of the Sun'. An image of that can be found here. Once this becomes clear I think it gives a sense of clear direction to the product.

I designed the eyes separately, but then realised they would need to fit on my actual skull so I copied the images over the skull shape. I added a border around the edges to frame the face slightly, and of course added early versions of a nose and mouth. My initial thought is that there is too much colour on the first screen shot and not enough on the second. This is something that needs dealing with straight away, a happy medium must be created.

Package Prototypes

I thought it was necessary to make a final decision on the exact shape and size of my skull shaped boxes. I bought several pieces of coloured card and spent quite a while with my pencil, protractor, craft knife and glue stick. I eventually came up with three different variations, all slightly different sizes. I decided that the brown coloured bottom fit best with the bright red top. To make sure the top slided nicely over the bottom I ensured it was 2mm bigger on all sides. Below are a few images of the prototypes I created. As you can see in the last picture I also started to divide the inside of the box into separate areas. Ideally the bottom area will contain my personalised icing tubes, the middle will be my three bags of 'decorational items' and the top will hold my skull shaped cookie cutter.

Aesthetics

I think it's about time I started digitally designing. I have been brainstorming rough designs by hand but think the full effect of what I am trying to communicate will only really work when presented digitally. Below are three scans of skull designs that would be used as the top piece of packaging. I think all three are a little harsh and I'm not really happy with them. After all my aim is not to scare the children, in fact quite the opposite. I will open these in illustrator and try to workshop an approach that is welcoming and friendly.

Below are early designs for a typeface and matching colour scheme. I like the idea of using all straight lines, as it fits well within the theme and it will be easier to cut out small details later on. I used the grid in Illustrator to create the type below, I'm not entirely happy with the outcome. I think it looks too disjointed and awkward, and again, not that child friendly.

Below I have edited my initial template just a little. Instead of sticking to a strict formula I made the text slightly more jaunty. I think it works well within a 'playful' frame of mind and would definitely appeal to a child slightly more. However I don't like the way the letter 'R' looks, this will have to be changed.

Below I was working on simple yet striking designs for the eyes in my skull. Again I have used straight lines for the majority, minus the circular pupil in the middle. The first image shows the idea in purely black but I felt this was far too dark so I added a range of colours in the next screen capture.

Ideas for pupils below:

Below are early ideas for a 'papel picado' inspired piece of decoration. The basic idea is that all the white that is visible would be cut out, or ideally die cut, to leave you with a quite intricate piece of Mexican decoration to hang, similarly to bunting.

Package Development

Today I started working on small prototypes for my 'sugar cookies' pack. I made the small piece below using three different colours of card and at the last minute decided to add a sleeve that slides over the rest of the package, keeping it secure. The sleeve would be slowly removed and the lid taken off to reveal the contents inside. For the purpose of this blog I quickly drew a few items that I am considering using: icing tubes, a small rolling pin, instructional leaflet, skull shaped cutter and tubes for decorations like beads and feathers. The design right at the bottom of the post was a brainstorm I had which incorporates the teeth of the skull and the phrase 'Dia de los Muertos'. This design could be positioned on the sleeve and when it is slid off, another alternative teeth design would be discovered underneath. This time without the words.