OUGD603.
EXTENDED PRACTICE.
Alice in Wonderland for MAC cosmetics.
Having my universal design for each box, and the digital nets I had made on illustrator previously I can now combine the two. I will have to adjust the original box illustration to fix other size boxes as they vary vastly. The most important thing I need to remember when applying the illustration to each box net is to make sure I incorporate the most recognisable icons/ motifs of the film on every box. I must still think about the form of this pattern, and try and keep it as similar to original design as possible. Form must marry with function as although, I need the boxes to be easily distinguished, I most also remember that I am designing for artists and that form is also very important.
Whilst working on the first box, which uses the original illustration type, I started to think about other details that can be found on the box. (This would not to be included for the final design) but would give the client an idea of what the box design would look like, with regular information found on the box) I am not sure 100% what the details would be for every box as this is a hypothetical collection, however this is information I would gain from the client in the design process.
Details I thought to include are:
- A barcode.
- Info such as the name of product, ingredients, and MAC cosmetics address are found on each box.
- Recycling/ material information.
The first step I took to creating an authentic portrayal of what the boxes might look like when completely finished was to find the font used on the boxes. I found when searching the two fonts were:
- Futura std light condensed.
- Futura std Bold condensed.
Whilst light condensed was used for larger amounts of text, bold condensed was used for titles, and headings etc.
I have arranged the above information I mentioned in the following format:
Name, ingredients and address on the back of the packaging.
Barcode down one side of box.
Material / recycling information down opposite side of box.
This information format, combined with the first illustration, made the first piece of packaging in my collection - The powder highlight:
The overall packaging design for the eyeshadow quad didn't differ much from the above design and allowed me to keep the same format and illustration composition. The size of everything remained almost the same except dimensions differed by a few millimeters, information on the back was swapped out to be relevant for this product.
Eyeshadow quad:
Two to be printed.
Again the same layout can be used for the blush box as it is exactly the same shape just scaled down. This is easy as the illustration is made up using vectors.
Blush:
Two to be printed.
The next box created to house the selection of 3 nail polishes was a completely different shape to the previous 3, and so not only did I have to alter the shape, I also had to alter the composition of the illustrations to fit the box. However I tried to keep the illustrations in the same position as the previous box, for consistency, I did have to remove the visuals of the teapots but I found that the adherence of the mad hatter on the right and mushrooms on the left, meant that the these boxes in the collection were just as recognisable.
Nail polish:
Three to be printed.
I tried to follow the same initiative for the rest of the boxes in the collection, keeping the composition on the box relatively similar to the previous set. I will always make sure to keep the mad hatter on the box as he is the most iconic visual on the film. Due to space shortage on the box I will swap out teacups and mushrooms when necessary. I will also make sure to try and keep the mad hatter in the same place on the box despite radical changes in size and shape.
Lipstick:
Two to be printed.
The lipgloss packaging required limited changes from the packaging above, apart from there could be extra detail added as the lipgloss box is wider than that for the lipstick.
Lipgloss:
Two to be printed.
The Mascara has the exact same box composition as the previous box layout has ratio wise, they have the same dimensions with a differed scale. The mascara box is slightly wider, but also has slightly more height. And so the composition was easily transferred onto this box.
Mascara:
One to be printed.
The Eyeliner box is by far the most diverse in terms of size and shape to the original box, in which the dimensions were used to create the illustrations. It is important that as the size and shape differ so much that I try to make the box look as similar to the first as possible. Therefore taking inspiration from both the above box and original, using the mascara box as in indication as where illustrations should be placed as this is the most similar in size and shape, and using as many of the original illustrations as possible to tie it to the original design.
Eyeliner:
One to be printed.
I have chosen to take advantage of the new printer in the print room. I had noticed that the Mac packaging is somewhat satin like in feel, due to being coated. I don't particularly have this tool readily availible, and so I seeked out other alternatives which could give off the same effect inside college. I spoke to James and he recommended that I use a satin 250 gsm card, making it strong enough to package small cosmetic items, and put it through the new risograph printer in the digital dungeon, He recommended this combination in particular, as any work that goes through the printer comes out with a somewhat glossy sheen. This would be great for trying to replicate MAC's original packaging.
Now that I have the final net designs printed, I am able to set up a screen and expose all of the logos (in different sizes) ready for applying to each piece of packaging tomorrow.
Today I went to the traditional print rooms to foil the logo to each piece of packaging, I printed a few extra nets out and also bought some silver foil, just incase when I tested the black it wasn't very easy to see.
I started by sectioning off each logo, and flock adhesiving the logo to each of the 15 boxes. Once I had done this to every piece, I placed the net into the heat press with the black foil. When I had purchased the black foil, I compared it to the texture of the packaging print out, to make sure that there was enough difference for the text to be easily readable. It was easy to see the difference between the two textures.
Sadly however, when I put the foil into the press with the net, it didn't go well at all... This was very upsetting as this is the exact effect that I wanted and it was seemingly unachievable when using college equipment. When placing the work into the heat press and removing it after the required time, I noticed when peeling away the newsprint that it had completely stuck to the net, not only this but the foil, hadn't just adhered to the glue, but also the ink as well.
This was very frustrating, however I took the opportunity to ask the technicians what else they thought I could try. One suggested trying to do a spot varnish, where the design on the screen, is applied to your work in a shiny clear coat. This would mean that the design would still be black on black, and the logo would stand out from the black background by having a different texture. I got hold of some spot varnish and tested the logo out against one of my black nets.
I think this effect would work well on large designs, however will the logos being quite small, their just wasn't enough difference, and the spot varnish in fact made the logos quite unreadable. I feel that the difference between the spot varnish and the black foil was, not only that the foil was shinier, but the foil had a lot of black pigmentation, meaning that their was also a slight colour difference between logo and background. The consistency of spot varnish was also very thin, meaning that it was quite hard to control with such a small design.
When talking to the technician they also spoke about the other possibilities with spot varnish/clear binder... They talked about the possibility of adding a metallic power, in order to give the binder some pigmentation, and although it wouldn't look particularly like the foil, would give it a little something special, and would nod towards the silver foil I purchased earlier which was my second choice. Although I must add, If I were to print these within industry, I would definitely opt for the black foil affect.
I want to avoid Digital printing the logos as much as possible, as I want them to stand out from the backdrop, look a little magical, and resonate with the fact that this is a 'special' edition collection. One option moving on from this is to try the spot varnish with metallic pigment. The other option is to go back down to see James and talk about printing in the digital dungeon. Although I was attempting to go for a sating box finish, as this is how the mac packaging is found, in terms of creating a successful design, this might be what I have to compromise on rather than the material of the logo. I have used inkjet prints in the heat press with foil before, having no issues, and therefore this might be the solution I have to go with. I will speak to the technicians again, and James and come to a conclusion when I return to college on monday.
I have since found by experimenting that the best outcome is the print the packaging via inkjet on matte card and then black foil over the top. The colour comes out very matte via this method and there is therefore a large contrast between the packaging and the background. I had found that this previously worked and am not sure whether James had gotten mixed up with the printers when he assured me it wouldn't.
Tomorrow I will be going back into the print rooms to print the full set of packaging via this method.
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