Research

In lectures we have discussed how packaging can have a major affect on sales of the product in question. A few examples were given:

 This was one of the examples; this example shows the packaging before it had been changed. The company Top Shelf Holdings had had their product turned down by all major department stores. The designers saw it as looking dated and of poor quality.

As can clearly be seen the secondary designs are far more impressive to look at, the quality of the box has been improved and the imagery has been simplified slightly and made bold. The designers state that due to the status of the toy company as classic they researched into the 60's and 70's for inspiration into the design. The result was a choice of bold colours and inverted text on black background. These changes have emphasize the text and add visual weight to the words.

The change in appearance lead to a significant increase in sales and acceptance into department stores. 

Another example,

This example i believe is far more of an impressive re-design of those we went through. As can be seen the original design of the package has been based around the image of a honey bee. The imagery used is poor, the bee character is childish and makes the honey look tacky and cheap. The secondary design on this product is brilliant. In comparison to the original design the new package which contains the same bottle, has been simplified with the removal of the character and lines of a bee to a simple but classy image on a white background. With all the confusion removed the product look far more appertising.

Brief: Assignment 2

Brief

In this assignment you will use vectors to create an illustration of an original product box with graphically designed packaging, such as a soap box, cornflake box, washing powder box etc, substituting your name for the product name. 

You will research the context of your design before you begin the design process.

You will use a range of Adobe illustrator techniques and processes to make the image of the box in a three dimensional space, then you will rework and resave your file into other sizes and formats for various forms of output.  Finally you will put web versions of these images into html pages for display. 

Research package product design and graphic design.

Research the use of flat colours and gradients in this kind of design. Choose one or two product designs and focus on the way they work. Investigate and itemise the colours of different elements in the design and their relationship to one another. Create sets of swatches which work in similar ways to the colours of the design you are looking at.

Make particular study of the typographic elements:

How are the faces arranged and separated by function in the design?

Which colours are repeated and how does the work of the coloured typefaces differ from that of the black printed text?

How is the logo strengthened in typographic and graphic design?

How many distinct font faces and weights are used?

Create the sides of a box with your name as the brand

Create a comparative brand identity to the design you have studied. Do not exactly replicate this design but generate a new one which works in a similar way and adopts similar values and formulations. You should mimic the parts and functions of the packaging designs you have researched e.g. appropriate strap line, product details, serials, bar coding etc but not exactly replicate them in their particular, unique, forms.

Build a scaled down version of the package you have researched. Create six individual faces for the six sides of the box, then create a 3D representation of your package. Create a backdrop with a blended shadow to present the 3D representation of the box.

Use a range of Illustrator techniques to create the designs for your box sides, including: blends, appearances, masking, outlining, transforming, pathfinder filters, clipping groups, filters, effects and styles

Save all versions of working files and produce a folder of six finished flat sides in .AI, PDF and web ready formats.  The PDFs should be print friendly, i.e. high quality A4 PDF files, the web ready versions need to be low resolution (72 or 96 ppi) jpgs or pngs.

Place your images in a web page

Use the given code to place your images in a web page gallery. 

What you need to submit

You will submit a disc (CD or DVD) containing  

·       Working files in .ai form

·       Six sides as PDF and web ready versions

·       3D representations PDF and web ready versions

·       The working web page with the gallery (ie all the files in the same relationship they are to each other on the web server

Clearly label the cover of your disc and the disc itself with:

Your name, your year group, the unit and assignment titles, the year.

Submit onto the Remus submissions server:

·       Six sides PDF

·       3D representation PDF

·       The working web page with the gallery

Submit onto the Web server

·       The working web page with the gallery

Keep a blog of research materials and project development, including reviews of images and links that form part of your research, comments and drafts and ideas in development.   

Research and write a 750 word review of an aspect of packaging design.  This might explore such issues as the relationship between design and target audience, changing packaging design fashions over time.  It may explore a case study of a product launch or packaging redesign, it may be a close analysis of some particularly successful packaging design.  All quotes and ideas must be fully Harvard referenced and must be listed in a bibliography.

You will develop a sketchbook of visual research and analyses, sketches and idea development, experimentation in things like colour schemes, typography, drawing style, and proofing. 

Research into Panoramic images

There are thousands of panoramic images out there, as they are useful for a huge variety of reasons. 

I found some images of panoramic pictures online that represent different methods and different uses of panoramic images.

This panoramic image of San Diego shows how Panoramic images are used to show large areas and skylines of city's and open areas.

 Another image like the other.

Panoramic images are also taken inside property and within confined places to give an image of, for example a 360 degree view of a room.

This 360 degree panoramic images of Hellbrunn banqueting hall, this images shows the entire inside of the hall in a flat image. This form of panoramic images are used in real estate to help show all of a property to a potential buyer.

I have taken photos at several locations such as Brighton pier and Brighton's west pier. I have begun to digitally blend the images. Hopefully to create an image similar to those shown above.