part of the eco-yoga series
Case Study
Packaging Design, Fall 2013
CONTENTS SECTION
CONCEPTING, IDEATION, ETC
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BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
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PRODUCTION & CREATIVE
CONCEPTING, IDEATION, ETC.
THIS’LL BE BRIEF.
Who’s going to use this thing?
Goals are important, so what are the goals of this project?
20-40-something years old females living in cities with an onthe-go lifestyle. They’re all about eco-friendly products and the DIY scene.
Re-thinking how yoga mats are packaged and how that packaging can be re-used to the benefit of the consumer.
SKETCH IT OUT. Packaging is a medium that has to speak for itself. So how can this package not just speak for it’s product, but it’s re-purposeful element as well? Ideation, the first time around, came up with a few possibilities.
Speak to me: Don’t pause your day just because your mat is with you. Pick up your groceries, errands, whatever. This bag makes life a bit easier while you stop on your way home to pick up some organic eggs. The packaging of this mat isn’t just packaging but a DIY-bag to secure your mat, and can expand to fit other neat things inside.
According to the ideation below, wrapping the mat in some sort of string or fabric gives this a DIY feel. Well, there’s always the option of making a knotted bag with the string, but as shown, those two are looking a bit hole-y. Not great for running errands. Then, of course, it could become an incredibly complex sewing project for those into the DIY scene, but that begins to question the intended audience.
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LET’S GET SOCIAL. As the creator of a product, it’s hard to imagine any flaws. It’s easy to say, bias comes easy to the creator but perhaps, sharing an idea with a few people could be beneficial to, you know, find a few things I might’ve missed or for some confirmation that the idea is just oh-so wonderful.
So, I went through & listed the 3 most common comments, plus 1 that really hit the nail on the head.
Uh, do I really have to? Interviewing is one of those things you have to do, even when you don’t want to. It becomes important when product design is thrown into the mix. It’s difficult to stop thinking like a designer, and get a pair of outside eyes to take a look. It’s also good to get out of the comfort zone every once in a while. Most designers are extroverts. Me? Not so much. So was it beneficial? What did I find out? Drum roll. Turns out the idea wasn’t nearly as complete as I had thought. Not saying it was terrible or anything, but it just needed some more time in the oven, and some collaboration. There were a number of common thoughts throughout my different interviews. If that doesn’t say ‘hey you should probably include this’, then I’m not sure what does. Oh, and if it’s for the on-the-go, the bag should be readily available, not waiting to be put together.
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Great accessory - The idea behind this bag is ideal for the on-the-go yogi, especially with added pockets for organized storage and easy access.
Consider the weather - When you walk everywhere, weather is a big part of what you’re wearing and bringing with that day.
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Safety first - The sun goes down and when it gets dark, reflective strips help pedestrians and bikers stay safe in their travels.
Ditch the handle - This isn’t a briefcase. Almost everyone suggested a shoulder strap.
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BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
While I didn’t scratch the idea completely, I knew I hadn’t thought about it enough. So I took a step back and did some research:
What other companies out there are doing something similar? How are they getting their message across? Does this idea, that I’m working with, already exist?
INSPIRATION(ish). I wasn’t just looking at yoga competition, but outdoor adventure companies. On a larger scale, these mats and bags are just one component of a larger company spanning the interests of climbing, hiking and camping too. Most yoga supply companies are doing the same thing, over and over again. Pastel colors, cool colors, floral patterns, tree illustrations, and symbols claiming to mean peace, or something like that. Needless to say, this made it relatively easy to figure out how this product would stand out. Outside of the typical yoga realm, there are endless possibilities. Looking at outdoor companies and brands, muted color palettes, similar to the left, are common, and simple design is everywhere. Durability is another important element, which led me to consider what the mat would be made of, and what the bag should also be made of.
Outdoor companies aren’t terribly original either, but I was looking to them for inspiration, not just competition. Bringing the adventure world to yoga wasn’t just about seeing what the companies are doing, and how I can do it differently, but seeing what already exists and considering how I could implement something similar and not identical. How could this fit into this market? Although the idea was changing quite a bit, the core of it would remain the same: a yoga mat bag that could expand to fit your mat and some other items to make life a bit easier. 8
LET’S TALK CHANGE. 1. Audience
2. Structure & Materials
Instead of specifically saying this product is for women with an on-the-go lifestyle. Why can’t that expand and become more general? Making the change towards an uni-sex product gives a number of possibilities and is, alone, a great way to stand out. (Now, I’m not saying that guys don’t do yoga, but in a female dominant arena, it’s easy to see why the current popular designs are the way they are.)
Staying true to eco-friendliness and being re-purposeful, structurally the package’s shape had to change to fit with new ideas. The mat, itself, is made of tree rubber, which is completely natural. The bag is made of nylon, a relatively eco-friendly and durable material. Instead of strings and loose fabric, the packaging allows itself to fit snuggly around the mat, with a zipper allowing for more fabric to be released to expand the bag’s size to twice it’s original size. Considering the logistics and placement of extra zippers, reflective strips, and a shoulder strap became crucial as I attempted to design around those items.
Second time’s the charm, right? 1. The second time around, almost everything considered and mentioned during the research stage made it to the production process. Plenty of sketches and a moodboard later revealed a burnt orange color with a simple design communicating the brand, contents and what it is clearly.
In a retail setting, the packaging information would be printed on the inside of the bag, which would be the part of the bag the consumer would see (in other words, the bag is inside out at point of purchase).
2. It did stay true to the original idea, but became more practical.
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PRODUCTION & CREATIVE
ASPECTS OF DESIGN. Color Color became a huge factor in the design, it had to stay away from having any sort of gender-related aspect. Of course I considered green, playing off the idea of eco-friendly, but that was just too obviously. Blue can be uni-sex, but everything is blue these days. Orange is a pretty uni-sex color, it’s somewhat common in the outdoor market and color psychology claims it to be a mood-lifting shade, doing wonders for depression. Oh, and turquoise and orange always look nice together. Patterns & Graphics This became tricky. Patterns are always associated with this or that, and this time around, I wanted to keep it simple and to the point. The exterior and interior match. Since the bag is going to be packaged inside out, the inside gives a nice preview of what to expect on the other side of the bag. If I were to do more of these, I would expand upon the patterns and create other miscellaneous ones that could be more specifically geared towards different crowds, sexes and interests, in general.
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DESIGN TIME.
The design is simple, the packaging isn’t necessarily all about the design, but about what it is as a whole. It’s there to communicate the purpose, and it does. Considering my interviewee’s responses, I made sure to include their suggestions of: a shoulder strap, some pockets and reflector strips. Obviously I went through a number of iterations before landing on the one below. I played with all kinds of patterns, layouts, but tended to stay with an orange color palette.
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FINALS.
Many and many iterations later, the final product came out to play. The final design is burnt orange with the name of the product and related information on a white overlay in white and blue text. It also features the brand and what’s included inside. Half of the package has a striped pattern, which matches the exterior of the bag. To the immediate right is a zipper that allows extra fabric to come out to extend the bag’s size. Above is an interior pocket.
FINALS. The exterior of the bag has reflective strips (above and below) for added visibility at night, an exterior pocket for easy access to train passes, debit cards, whatever and the shoulder strap to the left. Again, there’s a zipper, but this is the one that gets you into the bag.
3 DIMENSIONS.
A packaging project just wouldn’t be complete without fighting with Photoshop for too many hours attempting to make something render correctly and proportionately. Below are a few shots of the interior of the bag, a.k.a. what the consumer sees at point of purchase.
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3 DIMENSIONS.
Below is the external view of the bag, when in everyday use. As you can see, it’s difficult to get a good, clean image with the 3D functionality and the patterns on my design.
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3 DIMENSIONS.
Oh, and don’t forget the top/bottom. Creating a 3D element on the computer was easily one of the toughest parts of the project. After measuring out what I thought were correct dimensions, Photoshop thought otherwise and I ended up with a severely disproportionate cylinder-type thing. I could probably wallpaper my apartment with the number of messed up 3D mistakes I ended up with. Eventually I found the correct proportions, along with a few settings I couldn’t find out about online that allowed me to re-proportion while in 3D form. I created my documents in Illustrator; I figured vector images would be the best way to go and I think I was right on that one.
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Packaging Design, Fall 2013