Samantha Levine Tad Carpenter/ Visc 204 Packaging Design Project 12/11/12
Table of Contents: Page 1: Project Brief Page 2-18 : Notes and sketches Page 19-21: 10 cover explorations Page 22-26: 3 refined concepts Page 27-30: Packages with insert cover ideas Page 31-34: Final refinements Page 35-37: Final products Page 38-44: Paintings
Project brief: For this project, we were to create a new dvd package for the Criterion collection’s new eclipse line. From the seven movies that we had a choice to choose from, I chose the movie Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard, a French film made in 1960. This project gave us an introduction to packaging design, and taught us how to think of our package as a “meaningful box” in which artifacts are viewed. It challenged us to think conceptually.
Notes and Sketches
10 Cover Explorations Here we were able to narrow down our sketches to just ten of our favorite sketches that our classmates responded most too. Some cover concepts I tried to think of in a conceptual way, where some where more illusrative and painterly. The most successful ones were the cover concepts that I decided to make with watercolor, ink, cut paper, and charcoal.
Three refined concepts
These are the three final directions that I now was able to take and explore. The cover on the left is made out of sharpie and watercolor. I took two cover concepts from the ten above and combined them to make a new, Paris-like scene. The one in the middle is made out of cut paper, and the one on the right was a cover concept that I decided to do on the spot, because I love to paint and I thought I would try a direction with a medium that I enjoy working with.
2 mocked up dvd packages with insert cover ideas
Here are insert idea sketches. I atempted to fashion them in a conceptual way that would fit with the inside contents of my insert, but in the end I learned that the most successful inserts don’t have to be hiding in sneaky places, and can be very successful in just a simple pocket, slit, or pouch.
Without a doubt, this was one direction that I was sold on going with. To make refinements to this, I repainted everythign with another coat, made the entire inside red behind the CD, and made refinements on the back cover. This was the design I went with, for it was powerful and mysterious at the same time.
This watercolor direction was also another possibility. I also made improvements on the back cover on this as well. Although this was a strong direction, especially with my watercolored orange trees, it seemed too whimsical compared to the oil painting direction did.
Final refinements
This is when the project started to get extremely time consuming, but it was worth it to do what I loved to get satisfaction out of it. The amount of painting I have done over the course of a few weeks has been so much work but I loved every second of it. Here I made even more refinements. I made another painting for the inside cover that was less busy, and then I made a new painting for the back cover. Details were added and changed to the type and type layout. In addition, I created the insert pages as a booklet.
I created even more refinements to type, and even more exploration for a new cover concept that was more powerful and that fit better with the man on the opening flap. I also went over paintings and touched up the edges. In this stage, I definitely had all the right paintings, it just was a matter of placing them in the right spot. I painted another scene selection painting, and used the original one that I had for the poster design.
Final deliverables
Paintings My prized possessions.
Overall, this project taught me so much about how important it is to follow your gut, and follow your passion no matter the time committment. It also taught me how to make seperate elements cohesive, and how to make a brand out of a packaging design.