Design Practice: March 2014

The second studio brief was started by first writing an appropriate brief outlining a rough concept, target audience and mandatory requirements for the project. Creating the brief was an important aspect of the project as it allowed me to start progressing with the appropriate project elements.

BRIEF

BRIEF

Create a product range with supporting packaging to distribute an ORMUS substance to a relevant target audience. Suppirting information booklets and company identity should also be produced to create a cohesive campaign.

CONCEPT

ORMUS is a mystical mineral supplement that benefits both human health and spirituality. Not many people are currently aware of the substances existence. However there is a growing number of people who consume the substance and have experienced its positive effects. Create a product range of packaging for an ORMUS mineral supplement allowing the public to access its properties and subsequent benefits.

BACKGROUND

ORMUS is a mysterious material with links to alchemy and various points throughout human histroy. Since its recent re-discovery there is a growing interest in the substance and its possible applications.

TARGET AUDIENCE

People interested in mineral supplements and healthy natural foods.

TONE OF VOICE

Informative & formal.

CONSIDERATIONS

How will the product be packaged?
How will the aesthetics reflect the product, research topic and audience?
How will the products form a coherent range?
What will the product be bottled in?

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

Produce a range of products and supporting packaging.
Company identity.
In store branding.

DELIVERABLES

Product range & supporting packaging.
Design boards.

INITIAL RESEARCH

Once I had defined the specifics of the brief I progressed with the project by collecting a body of secondary, internet based aesthetic research. The main reason for collecting the research was to get some inspiration for the project as to how and what could be produced.

Assessing existing projects allowed me to define design choices relevant to my outcomes and helped me get a general idea of what could be produced as part of the brief.

Research Link - Link

INITIAL IDEAS

After writing the brief for studio brief two and collecting an initial body of secondary aesthetic research I immediately progressed with the project by defining a some initial ideas for the project. Specifically, I generated concepts for the product range that will form the main focus of the project.

While creating concepts and thinking of what could be produced I referred back to both the initial brief and aesthetic research collected.

WHAT COULD BE PRODUCED?

ORMUS product and packaging.
Retail and promotion for products.
Branding for company producing product range.
How to make ORMUS publication
Journey of Alchemy booklet series.

IDEA DEVELOPMENT

After getting a basic idea of what could be produced as part of the project I started developing the specifics of my favorite idea to help give the project some further direction.

A range of bottles will be featured as part of the product range.
Labels will also be created for each bottle.
Seals will also be created for each bottle.
The bottles will be distributed in wooden boxes.

DESIGN DECISIONS

Once I had defined my basic concept and started developing ideas surrounding the main focus of the project I progressed by defining my project design decisions.

As the project has relevance to studio brief one and the booklet based outcome produced I decided to utilise some of the same decisions to help for a cohesive link between the two projects. Although I have not defined the booklet as part of my campaign it could easily become part of the project offering the audience an introduction to the subject and ORMUS substance before purchasing the upmarket product.

COLOUR SCHEME

The colour scheme was kept simple to one colour consisting only of the black initially used in studio brief one. As mentioned when assessing my aesthetic research I want to create a dark, inviting aesthetic relevant to the product and its history.

TYPEFACES

Additionally, as mentioned above the same typefaces were outlined to help create coherence with studio brief one.

ORDERING BOTTLES

Once I had collected a body of aesthetic based research, created some initial concepts and outlined the various design decisions I progressed with the project by ordering the series of bottles that will contain the ORMUS substance.

Within my research I mentioned that I wanted to use dark glass bottles due to their aesthetic relevance to apothecary substances synonymous with my product range. Therefore, when selecting bottles as part of my project I looked for a series with similar properties to those reviewed in my research.

While looking for bottles I came across a company called G. Baldwin and Co, their website offered a huge choice of amber glass bottles completely relevant to the form I want to achieve. Moreover, they were available for purchase in bulk or singular form.

A series of bottles was purchased from the site with varying size and method of application.

WOODEN BOX PRODUCTION PROCESS

Once I had ordered the bottles I could derive the dimensions for the boxes by using the measurements available on the Baldwins website. I progressed with the project by creating designs for the wooden boxes forming the projects packaging.

PACKAGING SPECIFICS

Below are the packaging specifics I took with me when buying wood for the project.

PURCHASING WOOD

After creating the designs and defining their dimensions in relation to the bottles they will store I progressed with the project by creating the four boxes. The process of design and building the outcomes was defined as one of the most time consuming aspects of the project. Therefore, to ensure that the boxes production did not affect the overall project management I started with their production first.

Sheets of plywood were selected for the walls, lid and bottom of the boxes.

Additionally, corner pieces were also purchased which will be glued to the inside of each box to create a more professional outcome.

BOX PRODUCTION

After measuring each piece of wood a circular saw was used to cut the individual aspects.

The boxes will be constructed simply using a wood glue, although I have previous experience creating hinged boxes time limitations do not allow for hours to be spent creating the boxes. Gluing offered me a an easy method of production allowing me to produce the boxes quickly.

To help with the gluing process a wooden jig was created to hold the elements in place while the glue dried.

RE-WRITING THE BRIEF

It was mentioned in one of the project critiques that I should re-write my brief to make it more specific and clear, this was good feedback as initially I rushed through writing my brief wanting to make a start on the project.

The new, improved and more specific brief can be seen below.

BRIEF

Create a product range with supporting packaging and distribution outcomes to create a complete cohesive product range. Thought should be given to the bottle design, supporting packaging, distribution methods and in store branding.

CONCEPT

Design and produce graphics for a bottle range and supporting packaging for a apothecary style, health based mineral product names ORMUS.

As the product is health beneficial it has a large target audience. However, as the products aesthetic decisions are based around apothecary style medicines it has s focused target audience of adults interested in well designed, up market health products.

TONE OF VOICE

Informative & formal.

CONSIDERATIONS

How will the product and packaging reflect the aesthetic themes of the research topic?
How will the bottles used to package the substance have relevance to the material?
Will the focus of the products sale be predominantly based on the internet or in-store?

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

Produce a range of products and supporting labels and packaging.
Company branding and identity.
In store branding and/or website

DELIVERABLES

ORMUS Product range & supporting packaging.
Supporting distribution outcomes.
Design boards.

PROJECT PACKAGING REDEFINED

Additionally, another suggestion that was mentioned during the criticism related to wood as a choice of packaging material, although relevant to the contents and aesthetic research, was an unsuitable choice for the project. Additionally, the boxes I have currently created in response to the brief do not achieve the standard of production quality desired.

In response to this information I decided to redefine my packaging concept to make it more relevant and applicable to the project. When creating packaging ideas I had to take into consideration how the packaging is aesthetically relevant to the product and how it will protect individual bottles during transportation.

IDEA DEVELOPMENT

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH

After redefining the form of the packaging I decided to collect some additional research as to how the new boxes could be finished. When using the boxes I simply planned to paint them black and add small aesthetic elements to make the box look aged similar to the one reviewed in my initial aesthetic research. However, after changing my concept the whole packaging aspect had to be reconsidered.

After choosing to use layered packaging thought had to be given as to how the new packaging wrap could be finished and created. As mentioned throughout my blog posts, an essential selling point of the product will be its aesthetic. Therefore I had to consider how the packaging wrap could have relevant to the product and form an engaging aesthetic element the audience want to engage with.

Research Link - Link

PACKAGING TEST

After defining the new form of packaging I decided to do a quick test with some spare cardboard to check that the basic principle of the idea worked. I decided to cut the outline of each bottled from the sheet of cardboard placing the various containers into the holes left. In doing so I could assess whether the idea was suitable before progressing with it further.

Before cutting the bottle outlined from the cardboard however I first had to define the outline of each outcome. The process was very challenging as I was unsure as to how to accurately measure the exact dimensions of each bottle. Initially, I tried simply drawing round each on with a pencil, however this was completely inaccurate and useless.

The initial attempt is documented in the image below.

I overcame the inaccuracy problem by placing each bottle into the scanner ant 300dpi and scanning the bottles outlines. The individual scans can be seen below.