GIFT: Applying Branding

For the inside of the packing paper in which it'll be wrapped around I kiss cut to imitate perforated card tags as planned in my sketches. I rastered the text into the card but it didn't come out as strong as I had hoped.

I added the branding and text to the packaging I had been trailing. I placed in the information about the product such as sizes. 

I am now in two minds about adding the body copy with the friendly tone describing the product or talking to the customer. I'm unsure if it's necessary or if it should be kept simple and to the point. It would add a touch of personality to the brand but it's wether that is appropriate or not. This is a question I will be asking in the next crit so I can get some other opinions.

GIFT: Gift Box Complete

After a few alterations I managed to create the box to the right proportions. I altered the inside tabs so that the corrugated card went right across the die cut logo instead of part way. It has been an incredibly tough material to use for a packaging net due to its fragile nature to tear and thickness. However I do feel happy to an extent with the result as it's the best I can do with the material. I will properly try and touch it up in photoshop after photographing the set.

FASHION: Packaging

I laser cut the gift box and new career bag out of black card. I also engraved the logo into the bag, embossing the square on both the box and bag. This process adds quality and expense to the brand through adding attention to detail. I also rastered onto the tissue paper so the gift wrap was also branded. I was pleased with the results and feel that the dimensions and products are realistic products of a high end fashion store.

I did some trails beforehand trying different raster settings and sizes of text. I decided to keep the text small as I think it would have a better overall effect than larger logos. I did two sheets of the full thing and they came out really well. There so fine that the counters are still intact but the text is actually transparent and you can see through to whatever is wrapped.

GIFT: Packaging as a Set

I decided to bring all the components I had so far together to see how it looked as a set. I was pleased with the progress I had made on the packaging so far. Using the trace and corrugated card meant that the suitable stock was able to be used for certain products. The dimensions were correct for almost all the products.

I reworked the raffia box as I had over estimated the increase in scale for it to wrap around.

I also glued the tabs together for the gift box and worked out how much the lid was off. I'm going to recut the box to try and get a cleaner edge finish.

FASHION: Mock Ups for Crit

I mocked up the bag, gift box and tissue paper so in the mini crit I could show it would look as I wasn't able to create them in the turn around due to the laser machine being booked up.

FASHION: Design Direction

After mocking up some of my products I decided that I really liked the use of the photography and that was the strongest aspect of what I produced. The rest hadn't worked as well as I was hoping and seemed quite plain with just the use of stock.

I decided to pursuer the image based design. Although I liked the look of the fashion image that I had used I couldn't source the right sizes and pixels to be able to print a good quality.

I was waiting to get the images through of mine and it had been a stand in image for the time being but it also encouraged me to use my own due to the non flexibility of using it. Therefore this led me to use the two images of my own, both vintage party pictures. These I felt could work well as the brand is about the classic black fashion which is timeless. I cropped the images to a section of the original image and made it greyscale.

These were as close as I could get to a fashion type image but I thought they could work really well as some fashion shoots are staged in this style. They also worked as male and female.

 I then translated this across the original design I had done using the fashion image I got online. Trying different opacities and copy.

This then led me to do mock ups of all the products using my own images. I wanted to see how they would look digitally and get some feedback in what direction to go in, instead of printing off numerous attempts and trailing stocks.

 I did different looks for the receipt holder showing different stocks and opacities used on the front and back of the design.

 I then transferred these images to the gift card, clothing tag and mailing list.

I also did a few mock ups of how the brand identity would be applied to there other imagery in say the lookbook or posters.

I had tried the other idea I had sketched for the gift card but felt it wasn't as strong as the text.

 I had thought about the infinity symbol in my designing of the logo and I was reminded again with these images showing the timeless fashion of black. I tried to make an infinity symbol look like an underlining of the name so it was subtle. I did quite like this however I wasn't sure if it was needed as the name by itself looks strong.

I decided to redo the net of the shopping bag so it cut out better on the laser machine and now due to the new design atheistic change the colour from white to black. I decided not to use the image for the bag as I didn't want everything to use it. Plus the bag and gift box will be used consistently whereas the imagery could alter and progress.

I also added gift box to the product outcomes as high end stores normally box there clothes for extra luxury. I plan to have the logo engraved into the black and emboss the square.

I'm going to raster the logo onto tissue paper as wrapping paper for inside the gift box.

Overall:

I'm really happy with these two images as it's helped improve the identity and makes the concept of the store more clear in the branding. They show the classic element of black fashion being timeless as well as being modern as vintage is really fashionable and the party element is a more current thing to use in fashion than say more sophisticated imagery.

Now I am going to have small crit based on this new design and see what feedback I get from it.

Outcomes will now be:

clothing tag
mailing list
receipt holder
carrier bag
gift box
gift wrapping
gift card

FASHION: Mock Ups

I printed out different opacities and copy onto two different types of stock, the textured white and the smooth grey.

 I didn't like the white textured stock as it printed really grainy

 I preferred the grey stock with the image printed and with a lower opacity so the image can be seen all over the cover.

 I stuck the grey back to back with the white as I preferred copy on the white from my previous experimentation.

 Instead of folded I think I will leave this flat and have it perforated in the middle.

For the receipt holder I compared the white on the black and on the grey. It was defiantly stronger against the black due to the density of the colour but I did like the grey. This is something I'm going to ask a question on in the crit to get feedback.

 For the inside of the receipt holder I again used the white stock creating a tab from the outside cover to the receipt holder.

 I decided to try to use a photograph for the bag as well as the mailshot. Using my own photograph from 1994 I created two bag on different stock.

 My first one used the one photo as the fill on thick white card. This didn't print as well as I had hoped and was difficult to fold. The image was also two zoomed in when in sections on the bag.

 My second attempt I used the grey stock and made the image smaller using it twice across the bag so you could see more detail of the photo in one section. I much preferred this scale of the photograph.

GIFT: Product Development

I decided to cut out the parcel sheets and the packaging in trace as that was the nearest stock I could get to what I was after. Until I have the copy sorted I can't print them so I just cut them out to check the dimensions where ok in this stock.

I realised after cutting these sheets that the parts will work as confetti but the sheets won't be ideal for wrapping gifts in.

 Therefore instead of keeping to the pattern I cut as many as possible for the confetti jar.

 I also did the bag to scale in the texture off white stock. The main dimensions were perfect for a small carrier bag but theres a few details that need twisting to make the net fit together better.

 The trace is really flimsy and I wish I could get thicker stock. However the acetate i'm printing on will be slightly thicker than this so hopefully it will be ok.

 I need to prepare the paper sheets that are going to have this belly band around so I can see if the size and fitting work well.

 I overlaid the trace on top of corrugated card that I had cut out previously. I think this will work better for the label than just the trace.

I much prefer this packaging stock than the card stock to cover the raffia. This was my original plan and  although I over sized the wrap around box I think that the frosty opacity works well over the top.

I also redid the box in corrugated card. I think this would make a really good gift box as part of the range instead of holding the tags. You wouldn't be able to make it small enough in depth to hold tags unless you sold a lot in one box which isn't likely to be brought.