OUGD603 / Extended Practice - Alice in Wonderland x MAC Cosmetics: Submission boards.

OUGD603
MAC IN WONDERLAND
SUBMISSION BOARDS

OUGD603 / Extended Practice - Alice in Wonderland for MAC: Final pieces + Evaluation.

OUGD603.
MAC COSMETICS  x  ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
FINAL PIECES + EVALUATION. 

The outcomes:

I had chosen to do this project based upon both my interests within cosmetics and Tim Burton films. The end product works really well to combine both the original mac brand and packaging which features a black colour pallet interjected by a white logo and other typographic elements with the films very distinguished out of the box Tim Burton aesthetic. Both very contrasting visuals very easy to combine together as although Alice in Wonderland is well known for its physcadelic colour pallet, the Tim Burton remake is very much a mysterious and darker version of the original. The packaging is therefore successful as the mysterious elements of Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland could easily be interjected into the brand that is dominated by black. Further successes in communication of both film and brand come from the use of foil to further project the theme of mystery, whilst the ‘life like’ illustrations not only make the character on the packaging easily distinguishable but also nod to the most dramatic make up look within the film. 

How could they be improved?

Looking at the end outcomes I think all the elements work really well together including illustration choice, finishing choice and typography however the project could be improved if it was extended. Possible extensions could have been gained from producing designs to go on the packaging inside the boxes, or even creating a unique point of sale stand. The project could have even been taken as far as advertising for the new line across a range of different platforms. 

What have I learnt?

Answering the brief has helped me to improve my craft skills which are important for a designer who has a focus on packaging, especially if I need to mock work up for clients in the future. I also learnt a lot about combining finishing techniques and stock and how these can be use to communicate just as much as type or image, as with ‘MAC in Wonderland’ I chose to combine foil and matte card for a unique effect that helped to communicate the aura of the film. I also, for personal practice, learnt a lot about test printing which I should aim to do on all projects for the future. 

OUGD603 / Extended practice - MAC cosmetics: Interim submission boards.

OUGD603.
MAC COSMETICS.
INTERIM SUBMISSION BOARDS.

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

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. 

OUGD603 / Extended Practice: Alice in wonderland for MAC - Design development.

OUGD603.

EXTENDED PRACTICE.

Alice in Wonderland for MAC cosmetics.

Today I began building up the illustration that would grace the front of the entire packaging line. I plan to create the illustration using the dimensions from the largest box (eyeshadow quad). The composition can then be scaled down and moved around to suit all smaller boxes. I started with what I believe to be the most recognisable part of the illustration, The mad hatter, this is how most customers would recognise the collection, and associate it with the film. 

In terms of style I had already decided that I wanted to do a volume of colour against a plain background, instead of traditional like illustrations seen in the Lewis Caroll original story. In terms of illustrative style I wanted to keep them as life like as possible, as the film is not an animation, for the most part, but based upon life like characters played by actors, of which some are then edited later on in filming to appear wacky and wonderish. In order to do this, I created a vector illustration by tracing over a photograph of the mad hatter, often colour picking from the photograph to create a more authentic reflection.

As I was tracing the vector illustration I started to notice the combination between digital illustration and realistic textures. I thought the collage style combination was effective and again nodded towards the idea of realism. I tried the combination of vector illustration for facial features and photograph for his hair. I found the fusion of these two styles made the character even more significant as he is well known for his wild orange hair.  

I moved onto the next section of the drawing, the teacups balancing on top of the Mad hatters head.

After watching the film I noticed that Burton had stayed true to the roots of the story, born in the late 1800's and used traditional porcelain cups as props for the party instead of anything over colourful and garish. 

This inspired me to create illustrations with some colour, however look back more so at traditional porcelain and hand painted pieces. Below are some of the images I was inspired by:

I created the illustrations of cups/teapots to look like they had been placed in an unorderly stack, balancing ontop of the mad hatters hat, but also reminiscent of the mad hatters tea party in which these fragile pieces of porcelain are thrown across the table. 

For illustrations of the mushrooms I was again inspired by the wonderland in which we see in the film. I attempted at first to create a combination of vector illustration and texture from the film, However I felt there was an in balance, too much of the pairing being photography and so I subtracted a section.

I instead, illustrated the top section of the mushroom, and kept the stem of it as a photo texture. I took the texture from the mushrooms within wonderland.

Next I began to illustrate Alice, wearing her famous blue dress, another icon from the film. Alice appears much smaller than other details within the illustration to reflect her passage in the film. 

I then began to think about however, being such a small ornament on the box, how Alice's face would be detailed. The only way I thought it would be possible to capture such detail, is to use a photo of Alice's face rather than trying to illustrate such finite components. 

However I felt that when I did this, mixed with all other illustrations on the box, the overall design began to pull towards looking too photograph based rather than illustrative which I had originally aimed for. Since there was no other way which I felt that such minute detail could be captured, I felt it was best to totally remove this section from the design. 

Instead I moved onto illustrating the floral section seen on the drawing of my design. I knew that I wanted this section to have a painted effect similar to the cups/teapot, and so to make it easier / less time consuming, I took a picture of a painted peony and image traced this into illustrator to work on.  

When I image traced the image above into illustrator, I found that it came out very detailed... When sized down a vector illustration with such detail can begin to appear to look like a photograph. (Shown below)

For this reason, I traced over the flower, and began to soften all lines of the flower and remove intricate ones. This helps the illustration to feel more illustrative and painted and less photo based.

I carried on this train of working until I was happy with the final outcome. 

I then began to position the flower in the bottom left corner as shown in my drawing. However I felt that with one single colour, the overall design didn't encapsulate the bright colours of Alice in Wonderland. Doing a variation of colours would help to solve this issue.  

I created a system for colouring in the flowers more efficiently, creating a pallet of single colours in 5 different shades to build up base, highlights and shadows.

I played around with the positioning of the different colours of the flowers until the balance felt right and more colours were injected into the design.

I pasted in the logo to look at the overall design. I was very happy with the illustrations and felt that the combination I had chosen were very reconisable, even to those who had not seen the film.

I thought about background colours, and the only one which I felt would compliment, brighten and highlight the large amount of colours enough was Black. I felt that the plainer / less colourful the backdrop the better the design would be. I didn't think that white would work because, white has completly different connotations, such as purity and light, whereas the film is quite dark, curious and enigmatic. Black is also the signature colour choice for the original MAC packaging, and is what seems to grace their most successful special collections such as Venemous Villains and Rocky Horror picture show. 

In terms of the logo I was quite inspired by the overall aura and atmosphere of the film. I felt that although there was a resonate sense of fun and, obviously wonder throughout the entire film, it often left a somewhat ambiguous and uncertain after taste.

As seen above I have collected a few images that influenced the style and colour of the logo. When we are shown Wonderland, we are often shown a place of bewilderment, of bright talking flowers, towering mushrooms and obscure characters, however this is often juxtaposed against misty/foggy backdrops and very frequently a 'dark Wonderland'. And when one really thinks about the film, as if it were to happen in their own life, It seems somewhat a mysterious and scary prospect, and surely more of a nightmare, than a dream.

From this thought I came up with the idea to do black on black text on a black background. However I began to think of the obvious problems... How would the text be visible if it were to be the same colour as the background? I could make the text visible by changing the texture, such as printing the logo in a black foil. This would mean that the difference in texture, high shine foil against a satin card, would help to separate the logo from the backdrop, whilst still hanging onto the Ounce of ambiguity and mystery I was looking for.