Design Bridge: Week 4

Digital Patterns

Amber and I worked together to produce some digital versions of the patterns we had sketched out, we felt like our eyes were bleeding having painstakingly stared at the screen for hours! But we were pleased with the designs and shared them with Rowan and Tom via the Facebook chat to ask for opinions.

Design Queries

In the past week we have decided just to produce the delicate labels for the glass jars as opposed to complicating matters with making physical boxes, as this would be really fiddly and tricky and may not look as professional as we desire.

We also had a few discussions about the brand name 'Taboo' and whether or not to continue using it, as we collectively felt that the route in which our designs have taken is more classy and elegant, which wasn't really in keeping with the playfulness and youthful brand 'Taboo'. 
To solve this, we went back to our first original ideas map and reviewed some of the suggestions that were noted down and decided to go with 'Eden'. Eden reflects the core principle of our brand that we initially thought about, with the symbol of the leaf used to haze the distinction of masculinity and femininity of Adam and Eve; Eden being the beautiful garden in which the two of them began exploring human processes and experiencing relations with nature.

With the brand name sorted, we now just had to focus on the aesthetic of the product. We were unsure whether or not to print our labels with coloured leaves, as they were unlikely to show up against the brightly coloured liquids within the jars. As an alternative, we inverted the coloured lines of the leaves to white, and filled the background in black so that the pattern was more visible. To solve this, we decided to print both and see how it works if we physically mock it up, then we can make a more accurate decision of which option to choose.

Other problems

The photography studio is full up! So we are having to use natural light as our main source (which will hopefully work out okay). But Amber and I are not allowed to rent out lighting equipment as we have not had an induction, and the technician babbled on for ages about how we could kill about ten people if we used it incorrectly... So that won't be an option!

Printing

Printing was really successful! We managed to get a place in drop in ~thank the lord~ where we printed our labels out on sticky back acetate, which looked great! The white parts on the designs came out clear, so that the colour of the liquid inside the bottles came through. I think they will look great! Rowan also kindly took care of the typography on the labels which looks really professional.

In terms of the coloured liquid, I took responsibility for making the content look appealing with my amazing potion making skills... I bought three tubs of white soap and mixed the appropriate amounts of food colouring into them to make solutions of turquoise, orange and yellow. Much to my surprise, they looked ok! I'm looking forward to what they will look like with the labels on too.

Plan of Action

Later on this week we plan to photograph the finished mockups and also produce our presentation boards ready to send to D&AD by the 16th. We are planning on getting everything done quickly and efficiently so that we are not rushing and panicking at the last minute, which could jeopardise the high quality and finish of our products that we desire.