Day Five - Blog Post #6

Day Eight - Blog Post #10

Coombs Country Market Field Trip

We went on a field trip to Coombs today to visit their grocery store. Coombs has a lot of really neat packages in their store because they sell items that come from all over the world! There were beautiful Balsamic bottles, chocolate bars, yoghurt packages and so much more! However, we were there with a simple enough goal and I wasn’t to get distracted, although in the end, it happened. We can blame the edible glitter and handmade paper for that!

Anyway, the goal was to find two sets of a package series that we could draw inspiration from and use as an example for our next project. We’re supposed to design a box for Granola for this delicious, local-based fresh juice company.

Series #1: Fee Brothers Bitters

How is the branding consistent across all of the packages?

While the brand’s colour changes, the layout of the packages remains consistent. The type, logo, paper and sticker along the top are all the same. The only thing that changes in fact, is the colour. Even then, the colours are in the same tones. Even with just a quick glance at the shelf, someone could register that they’re a series.

How does the design differentiate amongst “flavours”?  

The design does not differ much, the only thing I did find is that on some of the bottles, the lid had a different colour to denote flavour as well. However, this wasn’t completely consistent so it was hard to say what it meant completely, which was a small issue in the concept overall.

What is the brand concept?  

The concept for this brand seems to be higher end and meant to make the audience feel like it is an old-fashioned product. It is wrapped in paper to give it this illusion of being vintage and the sticker that runs around the top displays the portraits of what one must assume are the Fee Brothers. What’s fun about is that you can’t see the liquid inside until you open and unwrap the bottle, giving it the feeling of something you might be able to present as a gift.

Other thoughts?

I’m kind of curious to see what the bottle looks like underneath the paper and was seriously considering buying a bottle just to check. It’d be cool if this product was so easily recycled by just removing the label and bringing the glass in! While I want to create something consistent, I also want to make sure that I focus on the environment. I’m already thinking about what I might do to make the package sustainable and within my client’s budget. I like the idea of glass.

Series #2: Whittaker’s Chocolate.

How is the branding consistent across all of the packages?

Whittakers is a really neat brand because while there are a lot of flavours, the Whittakers chocolate brand is unmistakable. I first came across it in New Zealand, where it is manufactured and proudly second only after Cadbury chocolate. Every single package is a beautiful shade of gold in a paper wrap and when opened, another foil wrap of gold protects the chocolate inside. The branding remains consistent by keeping the logo at the top of the package, followed by the chocolate information and name.

How does the design differentiate amongst “flavours”?  

There is always a block of chocolate at the bottom but it is always illustrated with the correct flavour profile per package. Each flavour also has a unique font colour. Otherwise, the rest of the package remains the same.

What is the brand concept?  

The concept for the brand is definitely meant to be luxurious, denoted by the gold wrap colour. The font tells us that it is also meant to be old-fashioned. Knowing New Zealand, I know how proud they are of their heritage and this chocolate is meant to draw on that. The user should feel that when they are picking up this block at the grocery store, they feel like they’re in a lovely old candy shop.

Other thoughts?

I was wondering if I was drawn to this series because of the nostalgia I felt when looking at it, you can’t count on one hand the amount of these bars I got through when I lived there! However, you can tell just by the image that this is a really strong series. There is no question that they are linked and I think the key to that is only changing a small part of the package to reflect the different flavours. The goal is definitely to have the user know without question that the two separate items that they are holding are linked.

We’ve Got Colour

So with a chosen logo to work with, I now have to figure out colour. I know these posts have been a little bit long-winded but bear with me here, typing all this out is helping me think as well. 

When working with colour, it’s important to think about emotions you’re trying to get across as well as what your audience is. Since my audience is the community, I want to use colours that are welcoming and friendly.

I started by collecting some colours that I like. I usually do this by looking at other work I’ve done and picking from photos that fit the mood of the project.

Lately, I’ve been really into softer, bright colours. 

These are some of the colour combos that I played with for this project but ultimately, I’ve ended up on the pale yellow, red and blue. They’re a softer take on a fully saturated primary palette. I may use the light pink as well later in some pattern work. 

Yellow = optimism, happiness, enthusiasm, hope red = passion, love, fire, determination blue = sea, sky, confidence, calm

DAY TEN - BLOG POST #12

The aim for this stretch of the project was to create thumbs, mapped layouts and sketch model mockups. It’s hard however to get the appropriate size when you don’t really know how much space 250 grams of Good Life Granola is going to take up. 

Now, something I was told to work on was my ideation component so I worked really hard to come up with at least 50 thumbs to work with. I’m not the type to put myself into a box (*bdm tss*) so I found that just letting my pencil take up the space it wanted was the best way to go for me. This created a bit of a flow of ideas rather than me just trying to fill little squares with thoughts. Sometimes, you need to think outside of the box. (*bdmmmm tsssss*)

Here are the ideas I came up with.

I wanted to make sure that I worked through as many shapes as I possibly could think of to be thorough about the ideation period. Although I came up with some really fun, crazy shape ideas, I found myself drawn to a simple box for ease of production and cost when it came to the packaging and decided to develop those concepts further.

After fleshing those out a bit more, I decided to just sit down and have fun. I forgot how much I loved this part of the ideation and creation period. Although I messed up a couple of times, I didn’t let that frustrated me and instead just enjoyed the tactile puzzle I was dealing with. 

These are the design solutions I have come up with thus far:

I can’t wait to get proper measurements down so that I have a better idea of what I’m working with. I’m not even sure at all which one I like best so far, although I can tell you that the most interesting one to try and create was definitely the rectangle with the pour spout! (I thought my brain was combusting a little bit as I tried to visualize what I had to do in my head.)

Brand Statement

Hi, my name is Sara. I am a graphic design graduate. When I’m not designing, I’m running my small enamel pin business or slinging coffee at White rabbit Coffee Co. No matter what the task, I put my all into it with gusto. I work bright and fast. I want to create real, positive change through my work, no matter how small. 

Brand Promise

I’ll always do better than before. (WIP)

Pushing the limits on every project. (possibility?)

Day Two - Blog Post #3

Today we swapped the packages we’d worked on this past week and our assignment was to recreate the new package but digitally! My new package is fun because each text block has a gradient colour scheme. After getting a close to accurate digital outline, I made sure to grab the correct swatches for the gradient from the Pantene swatch books that my professor provided in class.

I’m lucky that I’ve had quite a bit of practice with the pen tool this past summer or I may have found this a bit more frustrating. At this point, I think that illustrator is my favourite program to work in. I still need to get on buying some replacement blades for next week to ensure a good cut. I really want to make sure I get this package as accurate as possible so I’ve scanned the package itself to double check my work.

Reflection: Taking this tactile work back to digital adds a fluidity from hands-on to computer work, something that I’ve always appreciated about design work. 

Design & Thinking Documentary

Design & Thinking is an interesting documentary to watch as a designer because it has designers in the working field that agree and disagree with it, and designers who don’t know exactly what it is. I’m always fascinated when we get to hear from other designers in a visual sense, much more so than the written word. I thought some interesting things were said, here are some ideas that I really quite liked.

“Design Thinking is applying design methods to the working class and world.”

I thought that this was a neat little concept because it really helps me as a designer understand more what Design Thinking is and what we’re trying to do with it. This makes it feel like Design Thinking is less a scientific method and more of a way to bridge a gap.

“Design is a sport where you have to participate.”

I think a lot of designers, myself included, feel like we have to figure everything out on our own but Design Thinking really cements the idea that design thinking is a team effort. I really like how this phrase puts it into such easy terms. 

“Rapid Prototyping: It’s ok to have a bad idea.”

Luckily, this is something we’re taught well in our program but it’s nice to see this concept out in the real world. I’m so nervous about having to be perfect when I leave school but making wrong decisions seem inevitable. 

“Ask Why”

This I think, is my favourite idea from the documentary. I feel like it’s so easy to just take a client’s request and push it out without thought to exactly what they asked for. It’s easy to fall into a rhythm and just forget how to use our design minds, but I never want to forget how to be creative.

Erin Gibbs Response

This past week, we had Erin Gibbs join our class and present her process to us. She was extremely knowledgable and very thorough about her process. As someone who creates items for a customer base already, I found it really cool and helpful to learn about how she creates and how her items get manufactured. It was our task to come up with a piece in response to her work or inspired by it. I remember immediately scratching out this phrase after the class, perhaps the fact that she showed us a jungle-inspired line was to blame. Either way, I had a lot of fun making this piece though it alone took me 5+ hours. I can’t imagine creating a whole line based on it! 

The Rise of Design Thinking in Meetings and Events

I really enjoyed the relevancy of this reading for this class and felt that although it uses some industry-specific language it is still accessible. It seems like such a simple concept to ‘design from the attendees’ perspective’ but it also et like a ‘eureka moment’ to read that phrase. I think that in the past, many events have been designed specifically with the organizers perspective and it feels like designing for attendees is just common sense. What better way to use a people-oriented method like design-thinking?

Opportunity, Formulate, Build and Debrief

It’s easy to fall deeply into the design aspect of our grad show because that is the primary focus, displaying our work, but I think this reading has an excellent point about involving the attendees to keep their focus. There’s the yearning to want to make a whole new experience and refresh the Design grad show but there’s also the need to work with the space (and items in that space) that we have. We want the attendees to feel welcome but not overwhelmed, and we want to make sure that everyone involved is getting the same amount of attention to detail and care as everyone else because all attendee’s motivations for being there are different and in the case of our event, they’re most likely there to support one or two students in particular. 

“Consciously think about event design from the user perspective.” I think that our focus for the grad show, now that we’ve obtained a speaker and location, is to really focus on wayfinding and hammer out how we want to display our work in a way that does the work justice. We need to map out the floorplan in a way that prioritizes the attendee’s experience and can maybe be interactive.

I’m wondering what might be a good way to make our show a bit interactive? We were thinking about creating a walk through an area of our work that would require the attendee moving through all of it, sort of like a museum floor, but even better could be printed objects they can pick up and touch or digital screens that they can swipe through.

I think we have many opportunities here and after this reading, I’m feeling inspired.

Portfolio Website

The Links I’ll Use

about me, small joys, resumé

Which 3 (or more) projects will you showcase on your site?

Balanced Balanced is a project that I did last semester where we had to choose an issue and then try and solve it as best we could through graphic design. Balanced ended up being an integrative system to promote a healthy work/life balance for the issue. It showcases an app design, web page, smart watch, smart speaker and welcome pamphlet as well as a colour brand.

The Nav The Nav Student Press is a magazine that I have been art directing the past two years and worked on for the last three. It showcases my editorial skills and features two different base designs for me to show on my website.

Place Place is a branding project that I am currently working on for design for business. At the end of this project I will have a fully branded guide for a new business. This will include a logo, a pattern, style guide and branding elements. I will add it at the end of the term.

Fox & Koi Fox & Koi is the enamel pin business that I run with Teigan Mudle. Through fox & koi, we have designed over 30 pins and I have personally been responsible for 15 of them and collaborated on 5. I have also done some illustrative print work, designed backing cards and created stickers.

Where do you need to fill holes in your showcase?

photography

mockups

sketches/roughs for all projects

more active dribble, design instagram

What will you do specifically to fill holes?

write rationals

do photography of products and/or mockups

post more on my design instagram

post more on dribbble

organize past sketches and roughs into something legible.

What platform will you use?

Wordpress, powered by semplice

What is your domain name?

saraholmes.design

Case Study Draft

Project Title Balanced.

Class Name Design Research Project

Date of Completion 11/29/2019

My Role Art Director

Summary Balanced. is an organization focused on promoting a healthy work/life balance that I designed in the final year of my degree. It is an integrated ecosystem focused on providing a healthier schedule for those that tend to overwork themselves.

Project Challenge

Possible header photo: Waving/animated Ish with the balanced. logo Overwork is dangerous for not only your mental health but your physical health as well. working more than 55 hours a week raises the risk of heart attack and stroke. At this point in time, overworking yourself can officially be a cause of death. Something needs to be done. The challenge lies in ‘What’ and ‘How’? How do we change the way a whole society perceives work/life balance in an appealing way, especially when the target audience is most likely too busy to go through and set up a whole system?

Strategy/Methodology Show pic of Ish

Using myself and my own experiences as a key target audience, I realized that the most important aspect of Balanced. had to be a simple entry point. A simple voice command system in the form of a smart speaker program would be necessary and from there, the rest flowed. The system would be wrapped around the central character of a little AI robot named Ish. 

Ish can be likened to a little assistant that lives inside the user’s phone. It helps plan the user’s day, sends messages to ask how the user is feeling, sends the user on forced breaks and is the face of the Balanced system.

Show Ish screens

Design Process Identification Conceptualization Ideation Show ideation/drafts of Ish Show logo ideation (sketches and final)

brand ideation Production Revision & Feedback Deliverables

Solution/Contribution Show images of the completed booklet, al stages of the ecosystem Balanced has been developed to become a foil that fits snugly around the user’s life. At the beginning of integration, Balanced studies the user’s day to day activities using the deliverables that will be described in the coming pages.

This sounds like a lot, but Balanced knows that not everyone has the time to set a whole system up, so it has been designed with the intention of ease of access. Balanced will bring awareness to the issue of overwork and what it does to an individual’s mental and physical health. It will impact the way that people value their time and themselves as a person and deconstruct the idea that overworking oneself is admirable.

Balanced is an app, a smart speaker, a website, a watch integration, a friend, a secretary and a resource.  Takeaways - This project taught me a lot about the design process from start to finish and also showed me that everything starts from a poor looking sketch but end well depending on the amount of effort and skill you put in.