Graphic Skills
Assignment A: Hand Drawn Sketches
I like the idea of a colorful, large label that covers the majority of the bottle. This hides the unpleasant color of the drink and would stand out from the other lemonade options on the shelves. I also wanted to play with the idea of making a reusable bottle that encourages the buyer to keep it. Motives include removable labels to make it a more neutral water bottle and various lid handle designs. I changed the bottle shape design as well because the current bottle design looks the same throughout most of the drink choices. Reusable bottles tend to be slim, convenient, and sturdy. I also want the sustainability methods by SPA to be advertised on the label along with the drink flavors and 100% natural origin ingredients. The SPA logo should remain the same because of its recognization as an A-brand, but it's colors should match well with the bottle's color scheme.
In my sketches, I started with the reusable bottle shape I originally envisioned with a handle, a wrap around sticker, and a new slimmer shape. I added a colorful fruit design for the sticker to cover the liquid color and kept the SPA letters but not the entire logo in the water drop shape. I drew a few varieties of bottle shapes and a few types of handles. I also drew an idea with a removable sticker that revealed a plain color or random design to make the bottle feel like a brand new neutral water bottle after its first use. This would hopefully encourage the buyer to reuse the bottle for multiple uses. Lastly, I sketched a few fruit designs for the other SPA lemonade flavors.
Assignment B: Illustrator Sketches
In Illustrator, I tried a few font pairings based on the original SPA logo and the subtext font used for the flavor on the original packaging. The SPA logo font should remain the same, but the flavor titles and information text need different fonts. I think a bold, clean looking font for the flavor will pair with the thick, traditional serif font SPA is best. It could either be rounded and thin to contrast the SPA logo, or be thicker with small serifs as well in a slightly different font. The paired information font should pair well with the title, be easy to read, and feel trustworthy. If the title font has rounded edges, the smaller font should be rounder as well. By using the typewriter typeface or a sans serif font that isn’t as simple as say Arial, the information feels more original.
Assignment C: Sketches for 3 Directions
After brainstorming the three directions I wanted to go in, I sketched the milk carton design I wanted to switch to and the type of exterior box I wanted to create. I began to draw the visual ideas I had for the barn design from my third direction and played with how I would turn a square milk carton into a cow. I also sketched out some other carrier designs where the exterior would have a cow design instead. Since my client wanted me to create packaging for different types of milk in different shades of blue, I sketched these carriers in a few possible colors. I also sketched milk cartons that could go with my first direction where small kids puzzles and games could go on each side. I thought a picture of a cow could also be used on the outside of a carrier as well.
I also needed to create a new logo since the current brand was simply Albert Heijn. I came up with two possible brand names: BlueBarn or Cool Cow Co. I tried out different fonts for each and played with the idea of an icon that goes next to it. When I gave my kitchen review pitch, the class was split on the two brand names. I also couldn't decide, so I created a 24 hour poll on my Instagram where my followers saw these possible fonts and voted on the name. After getting 67 votes, Cool Cow Co. won at 57%.
In Illustrator, I created outlines from the hand drawn sketches I did. Then I played around with different colors and combinations with my logo designs. I decided to go with a light blue and a dark blue in a solid color along with matching blue shades in cow print. This allowed me to see what my Cool Cow Co. logo would look like on both the box barn and the milk carton cows. I also experimented with font combinations because I knew I would need another font to write other information in other than the logo font. I decided on a playful cartoon typeface because it looked nice with the handwriting font I used in the logo.
I then thought about what I would need to design next with these elements. I would need to create something on each side of the box to make it look like a barn and include all of the required product information. I would also need to design the milk cartons to fold them after printing. I gathered various clip art from online to create the barn look and tried putting the health marks around the barn elements. I also searched for print templates for the two shapes I would need to design over.
Extra: Sketches on Existing Package
I was having trouble picturing where to put my designs on the milk carton template, so I went to Albert Heijn and found the smallest milk carton I could find. Even though the package wasn't exactly the same since it was meant to be poured from a screw cap, I was able to roughly draw my ideas onto each side of the carton. I then pulled on side of the top outward to see if my cow face idea would work, and unfolded the carton entirely to see the full template. I based my template in Illustrator off of this physical rough draft.
BONUS Assignment D: Dimensions
Without any experience with Adobe Dimensions, I downloaded 3D models of a "cake carrier box" shape that matched my sketches and a 3D short milk carton. I placed my rough Illustrator design onto the models to check that I had considered what would go on every side of the package. When I saw what the carrier looked like, I realized that I had not designed a roof for the barn and the wood design went to the top. To make it look more like my sketches, I needed to put the logo onto a roof pattern on the foldable top pieces.
Assignment E: Style Guide
Assignment F: Illustrator Package
To start my design, I had to measure the milk cartons and then imagine the size needed for the carrier. I wanted each side of the square milk cartons to be about 5 cm and 10 cm tall to fit on an A4. This meant the carrier needed to be about 20 cm in length, 13 cm in width, and 22 cm in height. In order to print the carrier box in the correct size, I would need to print each side on its own A4 paper. I created my designs as a connected template and then separated each side at the end before printing.
For the barn, I added barn doors, a cow, an explanation of Weidemelk (Meadow Milk), a point about the playhouse barn doors, a recycle symbol, an ingredients panel, and a graphic of what the cow milk cartons inside look like. I made the top of the design look like a white barn roof since it would be folded inwards.
I based the template I created in Illustrator off of the rough design I drew on a physical carton to understand where the elements would be once the template was folded. I included the logo on each side, a speech bubble where the cow "asks" the user to recycle in the plastic bin, an ingredients chart, and the name of the milk type. I also added lines to look like legs, a tail, a face for when the carton is unfolded, and arrows on the top to explain how to open it.
Assignment G: Pack Shot
BONUS: Mock Ups
I decided to take mock up photos out in a grass field because I wanted to resemble cows in a meadow. This refers to the Meadow Milk in the product and would give an advertisement a fun, bright and natural feel. I used a flash as a fill light but I kept it looking as natural as possible.