final project, week one

So this part of the project I always struggle with: coming up with a brand or product to use for my product. Usually I end up debating for entirely too long; not coming up with anything until the very last minute! So this time I purposely signed up for a critique slot next week. This way I’ll have to come up with something! I’m hoping to have a company or product profile decided by then, and hopefully a draft logo design or two to show. I’m thinking this will be a good start for branding any packages I’m making, I’ll be able to start thinking about the color scheme, fonts, and making sure the overall design and feel will fit with the culture of the product or company.

Right now I’m thinking I should start with a product I’m fairly familiar with, and I’m leaning towards some sort of hot chocolate/tea/chai beverage brand. I started just by looking on the Target website to get an idea of what some of these existing products look like, and see what catches my eye. This first image from teaposy caught my attention immediately.

I really like that the strong image of the teapot, so that at just a glance, you can tell what the product is. From there, the design is very clean and simple. After the teapot, you see the brand name and the type of tea; nothing cluttering or distracting from the main product. I really like that this feels like a mass market brand, with a little bit of a prestige feel. I guess that would make it more of a middle market type of brand…something you would still find at Target, but it seems a little more special.

This next brand just caught my eye for the interesting shape where the package information is contained. Overall, I think the packaging is harder to read, and I would have to look at the product up close to see what it actually is. But I think it is an interesting use of space, and something to consider when designing the packaging – that it can be used to catch someone’s eye, but can also be a hindrance, if it means that product information is smaller or more cluttered.

I think overall, I would like to work with a product with a feel of the first image – something that would appeal to a mass market, but on a slightly more upscale feel. Now I just have to start thinking of the specifics…