A Study of Beauty by mecagdthesis2020

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Written & Designed by Taylor Mastrio 5

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

Dedication

To My Friends To my talented GD family, my best friends, whose final semester got cut short by the pandemic of 2020. Who all made beautiful work that deserves all the praise. To My Family Who did everything they could to let me go to school and work towards my dream in life. To Myself Who despite everything got through it and finished and produced this set of work which means so very much.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

Table of Contents

11 12

Introduction What is beauty Mirrored Salon Iris Beauty Final Notes

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

Introduction At times, I find it difficult to define exactly what my work is, or how I would define myself as a designer. My work has evolved and grown in just a short amount of time, and though I know where I would like it to go, I believe that it is alive and changing every day. I have always loved the delicacy in things, especially when looking at other design. Though I am not sure I live a minimalist lifestyle, I strive for my work to fall within a minimal aesthetic. I think there is something intriguing and dynamic about not over-complicating things and working in a subtractive manner. This book is a culmination of my thesis work over the last five months.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Beauty In Design fits with the style or concept that the work I am making is geared towards. I think typography, and good typography at that, is important in making or breaking a piece of work. I also find interest in script or calligraphy hand-lettering, and I try to integrate it into my work whenever I can. It is a bold choice in my opinion, so I try to not overuse this element. I feel that color can convey so many different things and usually gives off an emotional response as well. When I pick colors for something I am working on, I try to understand what the emotional backing is to the project and what a chosen color can convey. In terms of starting my work, or going about my process, I am still trying to figure out exactly what that process entails. The length of my process sometimes varies depending what project Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m doing, or how much preparation I do in order to get started.

Beauty in design is something that is special to me. As I have developed my thesis project over the past few months I have changed the way I see beauty in my everyday life and have evolved in how I am designing. When I first started designing, I thought that putting more on a page was a better way of trying to communicate my idea, the more the better. As I have grown and made more work, I find it is better for my practice to try and use as little as possible in order to get my idea or concept across. This editing allows the work to be dynamic and interesting to engage with, rather than containing tons of bells and whistles just to take up space on the page. When I think about beauty in type I gravitate a lot towards type that is more traditionalist. This means that I usually employ many serif typefaces like Garamond or Bodoni, or high-contrast serif fashion fonts like the one I designed and used throughout this book. I tend not to work with sans serifs, unless they are necessary for the design, like for body copy. So if something is clearly more contemporary or bold, I make sure the type

I have found that, in the past, I tend to go with the first idea that usually pops into my mind and I have been attempting to get away from that. Though I am still working on really not dwelling on specifics of concepts too early.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

This was the first poster I made for my thesis project. It was to define beauty and had to be in a strict black & white palette.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

MIRRORED SALON BRANDING DESIGN

Mirrored Salon is meant to be the embodiment of beautiful branding in a beauty salon. It has an elegant word mark with gold foil which signifies luxury. The name mirrored came from research about names related to beauty or beauty in society and pop culture. I had come across “Mirror Mirror” and could relate it back to the well known story of Snow White. For those unfamiliar, the evil queen would look into her looking glass and say “Mirror Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all.” However, calling my salon Mirror Mirror felt too much like it would hold the context of the fairytale it comes from, so I shortened it to just Mirrored.

making all of my work while in the studio as a student, especially as of lately, with those goals in mind. I’m also keeping in mind how this goal will prepare me and influence my work come the future. As far as materials go, I don’t find that I branch out and try to use different materials in my practice. Though I find physicality in design and art to be quite intriguing, I don’t play with it in my work very much. I don’t think of craft as one of my strong suits, and though practice usually makes perfect, it’s rare that my craft gets better each time I create an iteration. One day I aspire to make packaging design a part of my regular practice, I would like to play around with materials and figure out what I think works along with two-dimensional design.

When I think about the environment my work will live in, or lives in currently, I hope it is in places related to the cosmetic beauty industry, a place that people can pick up, interact with, and find the beauty of it. I like making things that exude elegance. Due to my excitement for packaging design and branding, I aspire for people to one day be able to go out and pick up a product with my packaging, buy that product, and have it on their shelf or their beauty table. I have been

As for key questions, I often ask:“would people pick this design up and interact with it?” When it comes to logos or any type of identity system, it needs to be unique and interesting enough for someone to see in the public space or on a shelf, and want to pick it up because it stands out from

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

These were the first set of sketches for the Mirrored Logo. I wanted to create an elegant script word-mark.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Once I figured out my wordmark I wanted to incorporate a texture and depth to the logo that had it mirror itself and have a luxury gold foil texture.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

This was the first round of a brand outline with logo, secondary logo, typefaces and color palettes.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

everything else, and not because the design is so outrageous, but because it’s something they gravitate towards. My work is an exploration towards a bigger practice and working on finding out what makes me happy within making, as well as what I can continue to do as a creative in the design world. Ultimately, I have found within my creative practice, that if I don’t even like what I’m doing, or if I know that it isn’t going to end up being successful, I question, why I am creating it? I want to push myself to always make work I am going to

feel good about or happy about in the end, even if it doesn’t always happen. If I keep my mindset positive about my works in progress, my final works will end up being positive and successful as well. As long as I can remember, I have loved so many different aspects of design before I even realized what they were or what they meant. Typography has always sparked my interest and I found that layouts in books and magazines to be more interesting than the content that was being written about. Since discovering the true fundamentals of graphic design and beginning my own design

A Study of Beauty through Cosmetology Branding

I find my inspiration in most things around me, whether it be minimalism or traditionalism, feminism or women artists, or just the beauty and the beauty community around me.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

This was the second round of the revised secondary logo. The color palette also expanded.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

practice, I have realized that I most definitely gravitate towards certain aspects and draw inspiration from many different places. Though all of these different pieces of my inspiration seem randomly grouped, I have found clarity through them and find how they are all cohesively present in most of the work I produce or would like to produce in the near future. When asked about myself I am a proclaimed feminist. I believe in equality for all men, women, and anyone gender fluid or non-conforming. When it comes to me being a feminist in regards to the work I make, I usually draw inspiration from other women artists and designers, and use their work to understand my own place in the art world as a woman and feminist designer.

my own ideas about the way people should be treated in mind. Though all my work is not overtly or obviously screaming “this is about equal rights and feminism” I do make my work with it in the back of my mind always. Along with my own feminist agenda and this idea of what it means to be a woman in the design world, I also think about beauty in relation to design. Not only cosmetics or the beauty/makeup industry, which I will get to, but also how a piece I am creating can fundamentally look beautiful. There is an article written in Eye on Design that talks about this idea of design looking beautiful. There is a quote from the article that says “But when exactly did the notion that physical beauty precludes intellectual depth, or conceptual rigor, or the ability to solve a problem ingrain itself in our collective design consciousness? When did we all decide that style and substance are essentially oil and water?” This is something I think about quite a lot when designing.

Since being in art school, and learning the history of fine art and design, I have realized that women in particular have not gotten the recognition they rightfully deserve. I make sure to include that in work I am producing, whether it be writing a paper with a feminist agenda, or when constructing a magazine that features a woman in it, I do so with

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

How can something work formally and solve problems, while still looking beautiful and stand up along with other contemporary design? Segmiester and Walsh have a book titled Beauty that features a quote, which I found through the Eye on Design article. It says “We believe this rejection of beauty is utterly stupid.” I believe that traditionalism and beauty is not a bad source of inspiration for my work, and that just because contemporary design has begun to look a certain way, that does not mean that everything created today needs to follow that. Along with work that is beautiful comes work that is for beauty. I also find so much inspiration in other cosmetic brands, hair care lines, and overall identities that pertain to the beauty world. There is so much elegance in the way high-end packaging for a prestigious skincare line is made and I have always wanted to make work around that. I think the beauty industry, although not always, is about the empowerment of everyone, including myself as a woman. There is so much unique design

when it comes to creating packaging for makeup palettes and so much thought in the identities and advertising for specific products. Overall I find my inspiration in most things around me, whether it be minimalism or traditionalism, feminism or women artists, or just the beauty and the beauty community around me. I think having something that inspires you or your work as an artist is very important and drives me to keep making work that I find interesting and dynamic. Through my branding of a hair salon and hair care line, I have been focusing on how I view the beauty world and how that fits into design. When I started my thesis, I had a clear idea of where I wanted to go with it and what each part was going to be. However, I hadn’t considered the historical contexts that went along with talking about beauty, salons, or identities surrounding beauty. Each element of my thesis relates to its own historical context. I have looked into when the discussion of beauty through design started, the history of beauty salons themselves and society’s interactions with them, as well as the history of brand identities.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

A mockup of what the sign would be for the salon.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A mockup of the finished logo on the store front window.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

response aesthetically and philosophically to the Art Nouveau style and to the broader cultural phenomenon of modernism.”

The way I see it, beauty in design started during the Art Nouveau movement during the turn of the 19th century. This movement is defined as, Art Nouveau is considered the first “modern” style. It was the first time that design was promoted through mass communication. It was the first selfconscious attempt by Western culture to create something new, although ironically it was the child of the Arts & Crafts movement, which was inspired by the Gothic-era crafts of bookmakers and illustrators.

The reason I reference Art Nouveau and Art Deco when considering the historical context of my thesis is because in this contemporary design world, what is so heavily encouraged is to either go with this flow of modernism where things are almost cookie cutter and start to all look similar, or to be so very original and different while keeping within the fundamentals of what we know to be design basics.

Art Nouveau, which was often called “the new art” was all about making choices based on style which mostly emphasized different elements of beauty. It was about decoration and forms that reflected something beautiful. Artists didn’t follow this style because of what other designers were making, or because that was what they were told to do. It was free-spirited and reflected the emotions many designers felt while creating. As this new movement of decorative design and art was taking place, more began to create this way. Art Deco, followed suit and was defined as “a direct

Within my work, I focus on decoration and aesthetic because I am making work that I feel is important to myself while also being visuallypleasing to look at. Nouveau and Deco both accomplish these ideas. These designers and artists made work that was important and aesthetically pleasing to themselves. When the public saw this work pick up in terms of popularity, they were able to take a liking to it.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

Every salon needs an Instagram page! With Mirroredâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s page I wanted a combination of hair photos and of the brand.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

These two historical references explain the part of my thesis that is based around beauty in design, but I also want to reference the history of beauty salons and their impact on society throughout the years. Similar to when the movements of Nouveau and Deco started in the late 1800’s, so did this new concept of beauty salons. Women entered the workplace during the Industrial Revolution and although they went into factories to work, they experienced a lack of equal pay and opportunity. The beauty industry “emerged as one of the few skilled occupations that provided women with the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.” For example, women began to learn about products that allowed for healthier hair. With this, the beauty industry transformed and allowed for more beauticians to find work and for salons to start opening. Martha Matilda Harper, was the first person to open a public salon. She helped in making the first shampoo and conditioner and even the salon recliner chair.

What connects these two separate ideas, one a graphic design movement and the other being a beauty salon, is how each started from trying something different, from going against the grain. Art Nouveau began because of modernist ideals. To separate itself from different design movements that were dominating during that time, and then Art Deco was born from that and modernism began pulling out many different stylistic design choices. If women during the Industrial Revolution had just settled for being less than a man in a factory, the entirety of the beauty industry might not have become what it is today. My work for my thesis reflects these ideas. I have been striving to make work that isn’t just standard or within the comfort zone of what I can make. I am trying to do something that is different but also meaningful to myself. I’m not trying to fit myself into a box, but rather take inspiration from things that have come before me, reflect on what aesthetic means to me, and take into account how far the beauty industry has come in order for me to make the work I am making.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Iris Beauty

Product/Packaging Design Iris Beauty is all about my approach to product and packaging design. The name Iris came from my research about colors that related to beauty. Like I said, when I design and use colors I want them to mean something. Purple is considered the color of beauty so when I was trying to decide on a name, I wanted a name that meant purple. At first I had picked out Lavender, but I felt the word itself looked too long to be used on a bottle and for packaging so I scraped it. Iris came to me soon after I started looking for new names of purple. When I started my thesis I had a single tagline in my mind which was â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.â&#x20AC;? I felt like Iris was spot on for this brand because not only is it a color of purple but its a part of the eye and connects with my tagline.

everyday life, even just walking down the street of any city, you can find a hair salon. Inside they are filled with different hair products and brands. Being surrounded by these businesses, and being so in touch with my hobby of dying hair and cosmetology, I have pushed my work to be something that you really would see around you every day. Although I am not creating this work for a higher meaning of a social or global scale, I am touching on how personality and aesthetics can fit into work, and what subjectivity in a world of objective design means. Current packaging design has heavily influenced my work, especially packaging design that is unique and stands out on a shelf. One thing has stuck with me while I have been creating my own brand and line of hair care items. Something I feel that is the norm in the design world lately is that products that are similar to one another will most likely be put together on shelves and purchased. This either has to do with consumerism and people liking familiarity and safety, or because of designers seeing what a few people are

As I have evolved my thesis from where it started to where it currently stands, I have begun to understand the importance of relevance and how that applies to my work. When I think about the contemporary context of my independent project, it is clear where it stems from and where I have found work that I can connect to my own. In

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

These were the first round of sketches for the logo. Iris comes from the color purple, and purple is considered the color of beauty.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

The first idea for the Iris logo.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

The second idea for the Iris logo.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

doing and thinking they need to mimic that design. As a designer who loves unique packaging, when I go through a store I tend to always notice the products that stand out on the shelf versus the ones that blend in with the rest. For instance, there is a very specific shape bottle that most hair brands use for their shampoo and conditioner. This shape is seen everywhere and it usually has the same wrap-around label and plain-colored cap, which is typically black. I think shape and packaging design are important elements of my thesis.

Both hair care lines are recognizable for their unique packaging and the form of the bottles, being used in making the products different. Though they don’t use any uncommon typography or have an overtly designed logo, their bottles hold their own. While branding my own line, I have been keeping the idea of touch-points in my mind. Customer touch-points are defined as things that “ shape a customer’s perception of a brand. These perceptions shape brand identity as much as the work of any designer or brand manager.” In this way, Form and Kevin Murphy use the uniqueness of their product design to make a consumer remember them.

To avoid fitting-in with the product “crowd,” I have been going back in my head thinking, how does this fit in with other bottles of shampoo? What I want to be making are things that are unique and not run-of-the-mill designed products that any consumer would recognize. I have looked to other products like the brands Kevin Murphy and Form Beauty. I reference these brands because they give context to what I am trying to convey about making a product different from the rest.

Another aspect of my research is when brands allow themselves to find choices through aesthetics and beauty and to create rather than just accepting the status quo and adjusting to society’s standards. When I have talked about my thesis previously, I have brought up the notion of societal standards and how they are inherent to how I am approaching my design. Although my work does not come across as very conceptual,

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

The shampoo and conditioner bottle design for Iris Beauty.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

A product called Floral Bliss which is part of the Iris Beauty line.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

The packaging design for a sea salt hair spray.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

a choice that I am making, I do have reasons why I am making my work the way I am. Society has always had unrealistic and unattainable standards for beauty, and this same standard has translated over into the design world. an article by the Huffington Post states that there is an “overbearing, delusional, over-represented idea of what the media, and everyone else, believes what can and cannot be considered beautiful in our world.” Though this is spoken in the context of women,bodies, and beauty standards, it correlates directly with beauty in design as well. I can’t stress enough how important I think it is to have work that is designed for the purpose of beauty, and for that to be just as valid as work that is designed for deeply conceptual meanings.

example, if you’re a designer making the case to a client, a beautiful packaging design moves more units. If you’re making the case to a city planner, a beautiful space (be it housing or the neglected area under a highway over pass) makes people happier, more productive, and less prone to crime.” Beauty and uniqueness shouldn’t be something designers should be steered away from, but instead embraced. I have learned a lot and grown a lot through this work and I’ve pushed myself to make decisions in my work for myself, and to not be afraid to work towards my personal aesthetic. I am grateful for what this set of work has shown me and how it will continue to help me grow and work harder as a designer.

To conclude, my design ultimately aims to be unique and allow beauty to shine through while also considering contemporary consumerism in the beauty industry itself. The following quote from an article in Eye on Design t talks about beauty in design in a context that parallels my thesis: “For

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

A mockup of the tissue paper that would be used in the online orders of the products.

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

The box that Iris beauty products would come in.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020

Final Notes

This thesis book was written and designed by Taylor Mastrio. It is set in Avenir Next which was designed by Adrian Frutiger in collaboration with Monotype Type Director Akira Kobayashi. It was an expanded reworking of the original font family and received considerable acclaim upon its publication by Linotype in 2004. The page titles are set in Eurydice which was designed by myself, Taylor Mastrio in 2019 as a high contrast display fashion font. This book is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, Portland Maine, May 11, 2020 Major in Graphic Design. Copyright ÂŠ 2020 Taylor Mastrio Marlborough, CT Maine College of Art.

A Study of Beauty Through Cosmetology Branding

Taylor Mastrio Independent Project 2020