Adam & Eve – Shampoo Labels
In order to meet each of the aims of the brief I made a slow and considered approach to my label’s composition. I explored many types of imagery, typefaces and colourways until I came to this conclusion. I even experimented with many types of bottles, containers and jars to find an appropriate context for the label. Finally, I chose to place my design on cider bottles. This was appropriate because they are sophisticed, sexy and create a mature mood, much likes the themes communicated in my concept.
My concept for the shampoo bottles was ‘Adam and Eve’. I took this biblical story and made it contemporary and entising for my target audience of young adults aged between 18-25. I thought about what stage people of this demographic were in, in their lives. I came to the conclusion that they are looking for boyfriends/ girlfriends and are very interested in themselves. Young adults can often be perceived as vain and self obsessed. I wanted my design to feed into their psychology and apply my design to this sort of person. To narrow down the demographic to interests, these people would typically be interested in their appearance, designer goods and fashion. Most likely to have a medium to high disposable income.
I structured my label around the serpant. The serpant enabled me to create a fluid shape with enough surface area to properly express my theme. The serpant is the core character of this story and joins and deceives the two protagonists. The sly and somewhat sinister character has an alluring nature that makes me think that young people would be drawn to this on the boutique/ department store shelf. The snake itself makes the shape of an “S” to rerfence the first letter of “shampoo”. If I was to extend the product line, the snake would make a “C” for ‘conditioner’ also. I extended my core imagery to include an apple. The apple too has an alluring and mysterious nature. I wanted to play on the risk taking nature of young adults and add this to my imagery. I made the shampoo apple scented to build on this concept.
As far as colourways, I wanted to step away from the traditional ‘pink for girls’ and ‘blue for boys’ ideaology. Looking at class notes and the previous task I knew that dark hot pink and red are important to young women. On the otherside, I knew that boys would be drawn to the rustic earth colours of brown. I thought that they’d be less ashamed and insecure about their masculinity when purchasing the product if it were brown. These strong colour combinations allow for a tailored approach to communicated to these audiences whilst also staying true to the gender stereotypes of the theme. I chose green apples as they really pop against the core colours of the labels. A simular contrast has been used when looking at the colour of the typography.
When choosing my typography I wanted to only make small changes in the typefaces chosen. I branded the name of the shampoo company in Unisect because it has a contemporary flavour whist still being gender neutral. Unisect was also used for the name of the project ‘Adam’ or ‘Eve” for this same purpose. For the women’s design I chose to use Akko Pro and Greyscale Basic because they have a slightly more feminine look whilst remaining harmonious with Unisect. For the male design I used Carplates as my point of difference because this is a masculine and strong typeface. The angular typeface is highly geometic and assists with the strong character expressed in the concept of Adam. I was cautious to only have small differences in the typography to keep the branding strong across the two designs.
Reflection:
What I learnt from this project is how to manipulate the small nuances of different typefaces and colourways. I have progressed throughout doing this project to now know how to create consistent branding whilst tailoring small choices specific for different genders. I have further developed my skills in creating a visual identity that is appropriate to the target audience. I feel as though this project has been a positive step towards my own development in creating fresh designs, appropriate to the theme and demographic. I have extending my application of shape from what I learnt in semester one.
I feel as though I am starting to become more independent in my thinking. Not being at Uni whilst working on this project has really taught my to push through difficult creative blocks and obstacles. I got really stuck at one point when I thought that my designs were all really plain. I couldn’t find a happy medium between busy and too minimal. I thought about advice that I received in class and how adjusting my use of the elements and principles of design can really turn a design around. I have now developed a strategy for when I get confused in my creative direction. I now know to explore shape to its furthest extent, choose a colour palate and set out my text in appropriate typefaces. Once these things have been decided upon, building upon imagery and creating harmony is much easier.
