Project Three. Packaging

The next "orange" design obstacle I have to face is: packaging. The purpose of this assignment is to develop a new, innovative package for our selected object. This has been especially difficult for me. Fruit has been packaged and sold the same way for centuries. I find myself asking... how can I recreate the wheel? 

Lost as to how to begin this assignment, I wandered around the super market in hopes of an epiphany. After passing countless displays of reusable shopping bags for sale, I realized that while many people have replaced "paper or plastic", everyone still use plastic bags for their fruits and veggies. This is where my thought process began. 

My initial idea is to create a reusable fruit/produce bag with my heart-healthy orange message on it. I purchased a bag am going to attempt to iron my orange heart image onto it.  

I am afraid that my reusable fruit bag may not be specific enough for my orange. I am also going to attempt to redesign the traditional orange crate. In Project Two I had an idea to use the tagline " an orange a day..." to allude to an orange healthy attributes. I am going to create a model of a crate segregated into seven compartments each holding it's own orange. I believe by packaging and selling oranges in 7's (one for each day of the week) with the tagline "an orange a day..." I can directly market the orange as heart healthy. 

I'll keep you posted!

Project Two. Branding.

The second assignment in Foundations of Design was to brand our object. We were to design an image that successfully represented our object's "unique qualities".  My first thought was, "Great...what unique qualities does an orange have?" But after doing some research I singled out two specific usages of an orange that I wanted to explore.

1.

The first usage of an orange that I investigated was all-natural orange household cleaners. Today, you cannot enter a grocery store or turn on your television without seeing companies promoting their products as being more environmentally friendly because they substituted oranges with other ingredients. I found this image on the left and came up with the tagline: "Go ORANGE!"

2. 

The second usage of an orange I investigated was its health benefits. The vitamin C found in an orange has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease. After developing the a couple prototypes, I committed myself to this usage of the orange. I thought this usage was much more direct and clear than, "Go Orange!"  

I wanted to develop a graphic strategy to showcase an orange as not only healthy, but heart healthy. I found a great image of an orange in the shape of a heart and paired it with the tagline "an orange a day...". I loved the simplicity of the message. However, when I printed it out on 11x17 paper, the power of it was lost. The paper consumed the message. 

The image on the left was my next attempt. Again, the vastness of 11x17 paper swallowed up the message. 

As much as I liked the tagline, "an orange a day," I didn't know if it was direct enough. I didn't want people to concentrate on the calendar or focus too much on the play off of "An apple a day... keeps the doctor away". I wanted my image to reflect heart health. Unfortunately, this meant going back to the drawing board. 

Ultimately I created this image. I like that I was able to maintain the simplicity I had in the previous images. I believe it has a much more effective (heart-healthy) message. 

This project helped me learn a lot about the design process. As you can see, I did not take a linear path to developing my brand image. However, each avenue I explored helped me discover, piece by piece, what it was that I wanted to achieve with my final product. My brand is about the simplicity and directness of my message. 

Project One. Postcard.

On the first day of class, each student was assigned a category from which to select a specific, tangible object. We were told to choose wisely as this object would be the subject of each assignment for the duration of the class. I was assigned "fruits and vegetables" and after much deliberation, I chose "The Orange". 

The first assignment was to create a 4x6 postcard that best reflected the essence of our object. My first step was to make a list of every attribute I believed was essential to an orange. I tried to ask myself, "What makes an orange an orange?" 

Project One. Postcard. By: Kathleen Clarke.

Next, I began to think about how I could visually convey the essence of an orange. I purposefully selected a dimpled orange paper to tactilely represent the textured of an orange peel. I then found an image of a dissected orange and decided to fill each section of the orange with the list of attributes I believed best represented an orange. I was left with a lot of bare space on the sides of the postcard. In order to "fill the space" I flanked the card with images of an orange tree to show the derivation of the fruit. 

In hindsight, I believe I could have better expressed the essence of an orange. Instead of verbally communicating the attributes of an orange, I see now that I could have explored visual means. My choice of dimpled paper was an attempt at not being literal but I stopped there.

This project was a great first exercise in design and I thought it was very helpful to be critiqued so early in the semester. I needed a little nudge to start thinking outside of the box. 

impulse purchasing

http://www.whatisblik.com/

I suffer from impulse purchasing. Hence, my home is filled with seemingly random furniture and artwork that I have to keep telling myself go together. I fall in love with things way too easily.

My most recent purchase... this lamp-shaped wall covering (I learned about the company from Material Girls, of course). We'll see how it goes...

ready. set. blog. (initiation into blogosphere)

Hello Blogland!

When it came down to picking a design blog to discuss in my first entry, it was a no-brainer. For months now, I have been incessantly following one blog in particular - Material Girls Blog. I cannot get enough.

Pantone's "Amparo Blue"

As a new student to Interior Design, I find it to be an inspirational, fun, and current window into the field. The blog is written by five young designers in five very different cities across the country. The girls offer helpful tips and introduce new trends that they have encountered. The Material Girls track new fashion and pop culture trends that have had a direct effect on Interior Design.

In this post, for example, the "girls" blogged on Pantone's (international authority on color) new line of colors based on colors used by specific designers at New York's Fashion Week. The "girls" then paired that color with images of newly designed interior spaces that have been inspired by it. The world of Interior Design is affected by changes in fashion almost instantly.

I enjoy the informal feel to the posts and the array of picture they provide (which come anywhere from the runway all the way to their own, personal designs). I recommend this fun, vibrant blog to anyone interested in design!