OUGD503 // UK Greetings // Packaging

For the packaging of each set of cards, i wanted to keep it pretty simple; something that wasn't too over the top and still able to showcase the cards. I also didnt want it to be like a box or something that will make the collection of cards bulky as in shops and supermarkets they wouldnt fit into the card displays.

I have decided that i am going to package the cards in a clear cellophane wallet, this will hold the cards and envelopes and have a card belly band type package, which will come half way up the front and then wrap underneath and up the back of the cards. This will hold information about the card range, but also be a way to make the packaging more rigid and protect the cards from being damaged.

Here was the initial idea, in which it was just going to be a small insert on the front of the wallet to show that it was within the card range and that its a collection of cards. But i wanted to include more information about the idea behind the cards and this had no protection for the cards.

This brought me to my second idea, which is what i have explained above. A wrap around packaging; the front will go about half way up the front card, this still leaves the top to see the card and the kind of style of it, the card will wrap underneath the cards and then up the back, this will hold information on the range of card and the idea behind them, a small thumbnail of each card - so you can all designs and a barcode etc. 

The male packaging.

The female packaging.

Each packaging is the same except for the card designs. I think this has been thought out well and again is in keeping with the card range, it will provide the needed protection for the cards, but also provide the customer with more details about the cards. Its also nicer to receive a package of cards like this, than having them loose. 

OUGD503 // UK Greetings // Envelopes

For the envelopes of each card i was just going to buy some plain ones that would fit the cards and package these with the cards, but i thought i should add some design to them to make them more in keeping with the design of the cards and to belong to the card range i have created.

Each card has its own personalised envelope, the envelope has the illustration from the card pattern, with a border in that same colour and the range name on the back.
Adding the illustration to the envelope, brings the design though on all products and adds consistency to the products, it also makes the envelopes more aesthetically pleasing and when someone would receive the card, it would look more personalised and nicer to look at in the first instance.

These are the envelopes below:

OUGD505 // Type Workshop 3

Construction of Grid
Must understand the requirements of the grid for the work to be produced.
i.e typeface, text, illustrations, print method etc.

Should start with thumbnails and then work the idea up from there - the process allows you to think about the content and where to place etc. Makes the job easier and more streamlined.

1. Consider the number of columns needed.
-dividing a layout into a number of columns can give you more scope for the layout. 1 column is very restricting as only one area for everything, compared to 2 columns which you can have one for text and the other for photo etc.

3 columns opens the opportunity for arranging text and image within a layout.
This can be split down into 6 columns. disadvantage as narrow columns so a small point size has to be used.

stats, facts. figures, graphs - 4 columns work best. 4 columns can be sub divided into 8 and 16.

Thumbnails
- make variety thumbnails
- do not rely on one set
- enlarge a small selection of them
- compare them and select and repeat process until confident with design


Apply type to columns
- first line must be flush to the top limit of the grid
- last line must stand on the bottom limit

e.g
- 15cm column
- 10point type - 15point leading.

Font Heights

Caption text
4 point type
6 point leading
- 2 line spaces - 3 lines.
- line along top and bottom

Header and footer
using the two lines, should fit 1 line space
- 7 point 10 point leading

8 field grids
- A4 format
- 8 & 20 grid fields
the grids is only an instrument in which a designer can make interesting and balanced design. You have apply it to the grid.

20 field grid
- large scope for ideas
- 42 possible layout options

OUGD503 // Ellas Kitchen // Formal Brief

After filling out the worksheet that we were given from the workshop about pulling the brief apart and re-writing it to suit our needs and what we want to do for this project, I have wrote it up into a formal brief.

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The brief
Communicate Ella's Kitchen as a brand to the internal audience and shareholders of the company. By creating a range of products to effectively promote the company and its credentials to inform and promote the brand.

Background 
Ella’s Kitchen is a revolutionary baby and toddler food company that strives to be Good In Every Sense.
We make great products providing all the nutrition a little one needs.
We instil healthy eating habits to last a lifetime by engaging kids’ senses
through all our products, packaging and communications.
We give stuff back to our friends, our planet, and our team.

Considerations 
Taking into account the brand values and the current style, work with with to create a range of engaging products to tell the story of Ella's Kitchen.

Think about how the user will interact with the products and the tone of voice to communicate to them.

Audience 
Internal Audience & shareholders:
Production suppliers: raw materials, packaging, logistics.
Agencies: research, design, consumer communications.
Customers: retailers, distributors.
Corporate: IT, legal, insurance.
Potential employees: applicants who submit CVs.

Deliverables 
Formal publication for meetings and the ability to be posted out to clients.

Web application / interactive component that works along side the publication, this enable communication to overseas clients.

Welcome toolkit, a welcome pack that introduces Ella's Kitchen to the user and makes them more aware of the brand. Include personal and interactive gifts that make the brand connect with the user more.

The Concept

From looking at Ella's Kitchen and breaking the brand down, the main focus of the brand is using natural ingredients which are organic, this makes the products good for the body and the world. 

Our concept is to take the ingredients of the products and characterise them, making a set of fruit characters which will run throughout the products and tell the story of Ella's Kitchen. This will highlight the focus of natural and organic ingredients as well as staying inline with the style of the brand - making it child friendly and using hand drawn illustrations. 

The colours of the ingredients will also give us our colour scheme and make the all the produce bright, vibrant and eye catching. 

OUGD503 // Ella's Kitchen // Design Sheets

Now we have both decided on the concept and the way the projet is going to go, I have started to look at the design for the publication. I have sketched out some quick ideas of the planing of both the main publication and the product publication. These ideas are going to be developed more digitally.

Formats that the publication can take. 

Product publication, how the tabbed publication works and the layout of the pages. Layout of the inside of the publication. 

Page layouts for the main publication. This shows the use of type and image within the editorial layout. The illustrations will be worked into the design when i start to do it digitally. 

More workings out on the format the publications can take. 

Planning out what the content of the publication needs to be. Breaking down the brand into the relevant areas that need to be communicated. 

Concept sheet. The 4 concept in which i came up with for the project with some quick drawings to try and illustrate how it will work across the products. The bottom right idea with the healthy eating characters was the one we chose and this was the beginning of the illustrations i created. They were further developed digitally, as i used some visual aids to help me draw them out. 

OUGD503 // Ellas kitchen // Concept & Ideas

From having several meetings throughout the past week with Greg we have come up with some ideas and a concept for this brief.

From the initial stages we decided that I would look into the editorial side of things and greg would look at the interactive / web side. We decided this because these two sections are more suited to our own interests and design practise.

Concept
I came up with a couple of concepts which i listed in the previous blog post, after explaining them to greg, we have decided to run with the concept that works on healthy eating, but using the products of Ellas Kitchen as the basis.
Ellas Kitchen are big on using natural ingredients and being good to the body and the world by using organic products, so the idea of the concept is to use the ingredients from the drinks - fruits and vegetables and characterise them, these characters would run through the products and tell the story of Ellas Kitchen brand. This idea is in keeping with the brand and being fun and kids friendly so i think this is a good way to go.

As i have said i want to experiment with image making and illustration more, we have decided that i will create the characters and design for the concept along with the editorial side. Whilst greg focuses on the web element.

Products
The two main elements of the brief is creating a publication which can be used to show the shareholders about Ellas Kitchen and what they are buying into, also a web element to email to clients they can't have meetings with - people overseas etc. We have split the two elements down so we both focus on one each.

With the publication I have been looking into different formats for the publication and different styles which could be incorporated into the editorial design. I have focussed my idea down to multipage documents, which will split the brand down into smaller booklets, so each one can be more focussed and in depth meaning people should actually read it. Each booklet will take on a different format.

Web - I know that Greg has been looking into different formats for the web, looking at the aspect of creating a sort of online story / process of how the products are made and the things that go into it. It will be interactive for the user and play on the kids friendly aspect, also incorporating the illustrations.

We are now both researching into the two focus areas to get some ideas and designs down for what we can create this into. Meeting regularly we are communicating the ideas and making sure that they both are working along side with each other, keeping the style the same. Once the concept characters are designed this should keep it consistent across the two also.

OUGD505 // What is good // Workshop

In yesterdays workshop we were looking at writing a brief and presentation boards.
In the first half we looked at our ideas that we had choose to research into and the key elements of these which would be needed to write a brief.

5 words that sum up your good:
- informative
- music
- communication
- worldwide
- social interaction
- variety

5 words that sum up your target audience:
- educational
- teenagers
- good with technology
- young adults
- visual
- social interaction

5 words that sum up the tone of voice:
- informative
- humorous
- educational
- highlight key areas
- visual
- light hearted
- stimulating
- engaging

5 products that you want to create:
- exhibition artwork
- large scale print
- publication - guide
- invitations
- branding
- logo
- packaging
- tshirt
- promotional material
- website / app
- way finding
- poster
- prints
- interactive interface

Processes:
- foiling
- screenprint
- letterpress
- emboss / deboss
- lasercut
- digital print - impact colours
- bookbinding

The title that i choose for my project is...
AN EXHIBITION OF...

I am going to focus on looking at:
- information & way finding
- branding & identity

In the second half of the session we looked at the design boards we have created to present our concepts and idea so far:

These were the boards that i took into the workshop, the feedback that i got back from the group was:

- Keep aligned to the grid

- Use high res images

- Too much information and text

- Condense text into more manageable bite size chunks.

- More specific information

- Make headings stand out more

After the workshop i went away and made changes to my presentation boards to make them better for the crit tomorrow:

These second boards are much better designed than the first, i have thought about the content and information more, only putting the necessary information for the idea of the exhibition, i can talk about the rest. I have kept the text to a minimum, but enhanced all the pages with more images. Keeping to the grid i have created has made all the pages be laid out better and look better as a set.

OUGD505 // Photography workshop

Yesterday we had a photography workshop to help us with photographing our printed work. This was a recap session as we had one in the first year about using the camera etc, it was more looking at the equipment available to use and how to use properly to get a good photo.
We had different light set ups to use throughout the session, along with different lenses we could try out.
I found it really useful, as learning about the different equipment and how to get the best from the lighting equipment to use when photographing my work.

OUGD505 // Type Workshop 2

Van de graaf
a gridded page is much like a scaffolding for a building. It is a structure that elements can be organised. A grid will help continuity throughout a layout.

Van de graaf canon is a historical reconstruction of a method to divide a page.
The construction of Van de Graaf canon can work for any page width: height ratio.


Creating the Van de Graaf

using ruler and guides to create the area in which the area for the content will be placed. 

Using the Van de Graaf, you can create different area for the content to be placed. Above is one version and below is another version using the same Van de Graaf. 

From creating the Van de Graaf we then had to create a double page spread using the above layouts, we could try as many different layouts as we wanted.

insert layouts

OUGD503 // UK Greetings // Print set up

Now that both sets of cards are designed i have made them ready for print. To do this i have added the back section of the card to the design, which is simply the colour of background and then added the range name ' for the love of writing' logo to bottom middle of each card.
I am going to print the cards on a white / cream stock which has some thickness to it, but not too much that the spine will rip when folded. I think i will use either antique white or cartridge paper, it will depend which folds the best.

Before printing the cards properly i am going to test them for the size of the logo on the back of the card, it looks quite big at the minute but i do want it to be readable, so testing this first will make sure it is set to the right scale.

OUGD503 // UK Greetings // Male cards with colour

From designing the female set of cards and deciding that the patterned design with colour was the best way to go with these cards, i have done the same with the male cards, this time i have just added colour to that set of cards because i knew this design would work the best and be in keeping with the other set to make an overall design style to both sets of cards.

I have again chosen another colour scheme which has a more masculine feel to it.

I believe that these colours have a more masculine feel as they are a much bolder colour and stand out more, this would be traits you would say a male would have, so they link in well together. 

Taking the designs from before which were just an outline, i have added the colour scheme to each card and then over laid the pattern to make the design of the front of the card. To make the illustrations colour i have simply used a shade of grey and set them to multiply, i wanted to keep the cards simple and within one colour, so this is a great way of achieving that, which i think works really well for this set of cards. 

OUGD503 // UK Greetings // Female cards with colour

After designing the initial designs of the cards i have started to look at adding the colour to the cards. These are the female cards, so i have looked at a more feminine colour scheme. 

This design was definatly the easiest out of them all to do, it was a simple shape which when adding the colour was simple to adapt and change this to, the rest had a lot of other details that i had to change in and amongst the illustration to get them to work right with adding a colour to it. Out of all 5 this is my favourite design because i think that the owl illustration looks good and works well in this pattern, the colour added to it makes it stand out and the two colours are effective together.  

After adding the colour to all 5 designs with the variations too, i have decided that i prefer the patterned cards, i think these look better as a design and are different to those already out there. 

Im still not 100% on the colours of the cards, some of them i like and others - yellow and red i don't, also i dont think they are a particular feminine colour palette, so i am going to go back and address this. 

Even though the orange is in there, which i don't think is the most feminine colour this set of colours for the cards has a more overall feminine feel to it and suit the cards better. The design of them in quite minimal, but that it was i was going for, its more about writing the message inside them to make them more personal. Im pretty happy with the designs of these and now i need to finish off the male cards, along with the envelopes for both sets.