OUGD603 / Extended practice: Alice in Wonderland for MAC - Design development.

OUGD603.

EXTENDED PRACTICE.

Alice in Wonderland for MAC cosmetics.

With the box nets done the first thing I wanted to do was concrete how the text would sit on the box. I already had an idea of what I wanted this to look like. I would keep MAC in its original logo form, and the words 'In wonderland' in they're original form from the Tim Burton film title. I found that when looking at the previous collections, the most successful ones were the ones that were most identifiable to the original. 

I combined the type from each logo, to make the logo for the collection.

INSERT IMAGE. 

Vector Image:

Having the type done I began to think about the designs as a collection, would they all have the same design on the front? or would they each have their own bespoke design? Would there be a few different designs spread across the range?

I found that when looking back at the collections packaging, the designers have created one box design, and applied it across all different box shapes. it is important to realise that the pattern needs to be applicable to apply across the range as a whole and not just one box shape. 

The film has so many ambitious and crazy scenes, moments and motifs it is important that I design something which will reflect the film as a whole. I started to sketch possible illustrations for the box working around the logo I created. I worked with the largest square box as a stencil. the future vector, could then be resized to fit each different shaped box.

The first design (left) is inspired by some of the most iconic Images of the film, a shrunken Alice, Wonderland itself (large mushrooms and colourful flowers), the tea party and the character with the most iconic make up look the Mad hatter. 

The second design (right) again follows the example set by the first, including key moments in a different format. The white rabbit and his stop watch (our first inclination that there is something magical and extraordinary comes from the rabbit), the famous tea party, shrunken Alice and an explosion of playing cards. 

The third (left) also focuses on one of the characters with a prominent make up look the queen of hearts and her partner in the film, Knave of hearts, as well as a cameo from the Cheshire cat. 

The fourth (right) is based upon one line in the film which Alice repeatedly says, 'Its my dream'. The illustration is a clear representation of this showing Alice dreaming of her 'Wonderland'.

The last illustration is a direct copy of my first design, but with more negative space, I subtracted some of the details in order to create a clear separation between illustration and text. Although the aesthetic of the film is 'madness' I wanted to keep in mind that I was trying to design for both Alice in Wonderland and Mac cosmetics. 

I had two different styles in mind that were both completely different. The first style, really complemented how classic the both the story was, and how the film had been considerate to its 1865 book release. With this in mind I wanted to combine three things; The characters as they appear in the Tim burton movie, the sketchy style of the original books and the magic of the movie as a whole. The end illustration would be as above, completed in a metallic foil instead of regular ink/ laser printing. 

The second Idea I have would be to really pay homage to the Tim Burton film by its self. The idea would be to take the same illustrations, however create them as a vector depiction of the actual characters, using the exact bright and wacky colours shown in the film. This would probably be the most identifiable style choice, in terms of recognising the film associated with the collection. The text in the centre (logo) could then be foiled by itself, to stand out from the array of illustrations surrounding it. 

Not knowing which idea to go with, I asked my peers, and non-designers what they would find most recognisable. All the people I asked preferred the first and last idea as it was truer and a more direct reflection of the film I was planning to design for, I agreed with the comments made. 

I also asked my peers out of the possible box designs I had drawn, which they would associate the most with the film Alice in wonderland. The two designs below came out as joint top. I found however that the second design would be better, I felt that the outside illustrations complemented the logo more, and the context of the illustration reflected the film as a whole whilst the other only represented one moment. 

From the two that were chosen, I felt the second would be the better design, as the negative space around the logo allowed it to be easily readable and not lost between all of the illustrations. The next step will be to begin digitalising the chosen design.