New Design

Here is the final packaging design for my chocolate bars. However, after reviewing the piece I decided it needed some refinement. This was due to the description box being too harsh and blunt on the design, which is caused by the sharp edges and corners of the white box. I also felt that the elements such as the product description and the design element of the flavours did not create enough contrast due to them being a similar size. Another element I was not happy with was the main design which features animals and objects relating to the chosen countries culture. I decided this needed changing due to them not filling the package enough and the symmetry was too clean cut, so felt it needed to be a bit messier.

For the description box I experimented with using the frayed edges of paper. This was to create a softer edged border so that it wasn't so sharp against the design. I think this worked really well as it wasn't too messy and did not distract from the design, however still stood out on the package. I also experimented with making the description bigger so it was more readable for customers and just had one of the flavours by both sides of the product name.

Even though I was happy with the soft edged paper border, I still was not happy with the placement of the flavours as they still did not create enough contrast. I made the flavours huge so that they overlapped the description box.

I then placed these behind the description box layers and reduced the opacity. This ensured they were still visible and recognisable as the flavours. This method create a huge contrast and also added detail to the description box, doing so without distracting from the design too much due to the opacity being low.

I then shaped of the flavours so they were kept inside the description box to ensure professionally and to be neat.

To ensure the product name stood out on the design as being one of the key elements, I added a stroke around the name. This stroke was white so to contrast against the black font, but to also stand out against the flavour background as this was not white anymore. 

I deleted all the designs so to proceed to add them back in but in a different, busier order and to create more contrast with size.

I started to build up the design by adding big drawings which contrasted against different, smaller ones of bright colours.

Here is the full design below. I think this is a much better design due to the description box being less harsh but still standing out due to the size. Also the bigger font size encourages the information to be easier to read for customers. The stroke and larger font size ensures the products flavour name is the key element of the design, so therefore creating a hierarchy which this element is at the top of. This is due to customers needing to know what the flavour is as soon as they seen the bars, which will encourage them to buy it. The quicker and easy it is for customers to find out information, the more likely they are to buy it.

I proceeded to use this same method on each of the three bars. All three of them are now more effective due to more contrast being created, information is easier to read and the design itself is more eye catching and busier, making it more aesthetically pleasing. I am really happy with these new designs as they are unique, original and fulfil the purpose. 

Final Piece - Asian Inspired Bar (Spiced Chilli)

The packaging will feature drawings related to the country. I started by sketching drawings that could feature on the design of the chocolate packaging. I researched Chinese and Japanese art for inspiration on what to draw and drew a range of animals, objects, plants and symbols that could be linked to Asia's culture. This also includes alot of floral elements, shades of red, Chinese dragons and lanterns. Even though this may seem very stereotypical, these objects are associated with Asia's culture. Therefore people will be able to recognise that this bar is Asian due to the drawings on there which we quickly link with Japan and China. 

These drawings were scanned into Photoshop so that I could edit and colour them to be used on the package. Due to the drawings being placed on a dark background, I chose bright and vivid colours to ensure the product will stand out on the shelf because of the contrast in colours. In Asia's culture red is related to being good luck. Therefore I ensured I used predominately reds, yellows and pink so to make the drawings look Asian styled. I coloured the drawings in colour that matched some of the objects, e.g. the lanterns, bamboo and peaches are colours that they are in real life so to make them realistic. On the other hand I also coloured in objects that were in unrelatable colours, e.g. a colourful dragon and red fish. This is so to make the design vibrant and eye catching to appeal to customers so that they buy the product and ensure the product stands out on the shelf among its competition. I also experimented with colouring the drawings with solid colours. However this did not look effective on the black background, so therefore stuck to colouring the lines. 

I coloured in the lines by clicking 'command' over the white box next to the layer. This proved to be a lot more effective on the design. As you can see below i have coloured in the lines of the drawings. They can now be copied and pasted directly onto the document.

I copied and pasted the drawings and made each one opposite so that the design was mirrored on the packaging. I decided to mirror the drawings so the design had a certain structure and was not haphazard and messy. This prevents the design from being too distracting off the vital information, as my bars as high market so are not busy and disordered.

Here is the description box that I had previously made. For more information on why I chose certain details and how I made them see the post 'Description Boxes'.

Below is the final piece showing the asian style drawings which are against a black background. On each bar I wrote the name at the bottom so to show which country the bar is inspired by. I used the same script font for "Asian" and the same serif font for "inspired". This was done to create a sense of continuity. However to make them slightly different I capitalised 'Asian' to make the country it was inspired by eye catching to customers. I also used kerning on the word 'inspired' to make it stand out and create a contrast on the piece. These bars are inspired by countries due to the cocoa beans to make the chocolate coming from the said country. Also the flavours are linked to the country. I chose to have the flavour 'Spiced Chilli' due to Asia being widely associated with spices and herbs. This is because herbs and spices originated from here from Asian countries developing the spice trade.

Final Piece - African Bar (Banoffee)

To create the main design that will feature on the front of the package I started by  drawing a variety of objects that related to Africa. I researched pictures of african animals, art, plants and masks for inspiration on what to draw so that the packaging could be linked to Africa's culture. I drew basic drawings of animals however started another page and drew more detailed examples. This will add character to the designs and ensure that customers can recognise the design with being African themed.

I scanned these into Photoshop so that I could edit and colour them, to then be used on the packaging designs. Due to the drawings being placed on a dark background, I chose bright and vivid colours to ensure the product will stand out on the shelf. The bright colours also represents Australia's wild culture and vibrant wildlife. I coloured the drawings in colour that matched some of the objects, e.g. the turtle and crocodile are green so to make them realistic. On the other hand I also coloured in objects that were in unrelatable colours, e.g. the kangaroo being yellow and the snake being purple. This is so to make the design vibrant and eye catching to appeal to customers so that they buy the product and it ensures the product stands out among its competition. 

Here is the description box that I had previously made. For more information on why I chose certain details and how I made them see the post 'Description Boxes'.

Once I had created the description box I started creating the design on the bar. I copied and pasted the drawings and made each one opposite so that the design was mirrored on the packaging. I decided to mirror the drawings so the design had a certain structure and was not haphazard and messy. This prevents the design from being too distracting off the vital information, as my bars are high market so are not busy and disordered.

Below is the final piece showing the african style drawings which are against a black background. On each bar I wrote the name at the bottom so to show which country the bar is inspired by. I used the same script font for "AFRICAN" and the same serif font for "inspired". This was done to create a sense of continuity. However to make them slightly different I capitalised 'AFRICAN' to make the country it was inspired by eye catching to customers. I also used kerning on the word 'inspired' to make it stand out and create a contrast on the piece. These bars are inspired by countries due to the cocoa beans that make the chocolate coming from the said country. Also the flavours are linked to the country. I chose bananas for Africa as this fruit is widely grown and it is a tropical fruit, therefore is easily relatable to this country. I then added toffee with the banana to make the flavours interesting and unique.

Final Piece - Australian Bar (Blood Orange)

To create the design I started by sketching drawings that could feature on the design of the chocolate packaging.  I researched aboriginal art for inspiration on what to draw and drew a range of animals and objects that could be linked to Australia's culture. This also included Australia's art style of dotted drawings. I ensured to include this as well as layering lines to achieve the aboriginal art style drawings. This will add character to the designs and ensure that customers can recognise the designs with being Australian themed.

I then scanned these into Photoshop so I could colour them in to be used on the packaging designs. Due to the drawings being placed on a dark background, I chose bright and vivid colours to ensure the product will stand out on the shelf because of the contrast in colours. This also represents Australia's wild culture and vibrant wildlife. I coloured the drawings in colour that matched some of the objects, e.g. the turtle and crocodile are green so to make them realistic. On the other hand I also coloured in objects that were in unrelatable colours, e.g. a yellow kangaroo and purple snake. This is so to make the design vibrant and eye catching to appeal to customers so that they buy the product and ensure the product stands out on the shelf among its competition

Here is the description box that I had previously made. For more information on why I chose certain details and how I made them see the post 'Description Boxes'.

Once I had created the description box I started creating the design on the bar. I copied and pasted the drawings and made each one opposite so that the design was mirrored on the packaging. I decided to mirror the drawings so the design had a certain structure and was not haphazard and messy. This prevents the design from being too distracting off the vital information, as my bars as high market so are not busy and disordered.

Below is the final piece showing the aboriginal style drawings which are against a black background. On each bar I wrote the name at the bottom so to show which country the bar is inspired by. I used the same script font for "Australia" and the same serif font for "inspired". This was done to create a sense of continuity. However to make them slightly different I capitalised 'Australia' to make the country it was inspired by eye catching to customers. I also used kerning on the word 'inspired' to make it stand out and create a contrast on the piece. These bars are inspired by countries due to the cocoa beans to make the chocolate coming from the said country. I chose 'Blood Orange' as the flavour for the bar, due to oranges being widely grown in Australia.

Description boxes - Final Piece

To create the description boxes for my chocolate bars I started by choosing the flavours for each bar. I decided on Spiced Chili for the Asian inspired bar, Banoffee for the African style one and Blood Orange for my Australian themed bar. I then wrote descriptions filled with creative emotive language and adjectives that are appealing to the customers when reading this. This is to to entice them to buy the product due to the attractive and delicious descriptions.

To add character to the boxes I scanned in the drawings and coloured them in Photoshop. I will create a pattern with these ingredients that match the flavour of the bar, e.g. the red and green chilis will only go on the bar that is flavoured with spiced chili. This is so the customers can not only read what flavours the chocolate is but also see them. Making the bars playful and fun. 

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I created a white description box to contrast against the black background. This ensures the description of the product stands out so a hierarchy is created on the design, meaning your eyes will land their first. Which is essential so customers understand what the product is straight away

I then added my logo to the top of the box. This highlights that it is the logo, as the name is clearly displayed at the top of the box, which is where your eyes will travel first. Also this is a convention of chocolate packaging to usually add the logo of the product at the top of the design.

After adding the logo I created the title using a script font called 'Cheddar Jack', which I found off a website called Dafont. I felt this adds class to my design and matches the high brand market which I want my bar to be in. I contrasted this with a serif font as these are easy to read when it is a body of text, therefore making it easy for customers to understand what the product is quickly. I used the same fonts for all three bars to create a sense of continuity and link them together.  Using the ingredients I had edited and coloured I created a line across the middle of the bar separating the title from the description. This adds a splash of colour to the design and subtly separates the different information. I did this for each bar and added the drawn ingredients to the matching flavour.

Redesigned Logo

Below is the old logo design that I had created. After putting it on the packaging I did not like the gradient, type I had chosen or the unequal space that was created in the shape. Due to the shape being a circle the type does not fill it fully. This is because the 'D' is the biggest character in the word and the rest of the word is quite small making it look uneven and not aesthetically pleasing.

Therefore I went back to my ideas page and chose a new shape. I chose a longer rectangular/ oval style shape as my brand name is quite long so this shape will be a better match for it. However to make the shape more exciting I added curves and points to make the shape look sophisticated and high market. 

To create the typeface I wanted I printed off a typeface I liked and inked over it. The font is called 'Cheddar Jack' which is the script font I have used on my piece. Therefore this ensures the piece does not look unprofessional with too many fonts everywhere. 

I then began to create my logo in Photoshop. I create a similar shape to one that I drew and chose a white border against the brown shape. This creates contrast and frames the logo to make it stand out and highlight that it is an important element on the piece. To add detail I added dots around the edges.

However I still felt the logo was plain and uninteresting with having a plain brown background. Therefore to make it more appealing I added dark brown lines in a diagonal crossed pattern. This makes the design appealing, detailed and interesting to look at whilst having a subtle enough design to not distract from the brand name and other information.

I then scanned in the type I had inked and used the invert tool to turn it white. As having white writing will ensure the name stands out against the dark background so that it is eye catching and customers can recognise the brand instantly.

To add character and detail to the logo I decided to add another word to make it more interesting. I chose the word 'CHOCOLATIER' which sounds formal and refined so linking in with my high branded product. I chose a sans serif font for this to create a nice contrast on the design and also on the package a sans serif has not been used therefore using this will look effective and will not look too overcrowded with similar fonts. I also capitalised 'CHOCOLATIER" to have a contrast between the two fonts and add a sense of class to the design. The colour of the word is the same as the colour of the dots, this was so to create a sense of continuity on the design. To ensure a good deal of contrast was created I made the brand name 'Drizzles' a lot bigger than 'CHOCOLATIER' so to emphasise which was the more important information.