LiliRose Creative

THE PROBLEM

Acune Skincare, a fictitious brand I created for the purposes of this project, is a natural skincare range that focuses on reducing the appearance of acne, redness and inflammation. For this brand, I created an identity and packaging system containing packaging for three products, steering away from the more sterile and uninviting pharmaceutical packaging often seen in stores, and creating packaging that was modern eye-catching.

RESEARCH

The research stage includes defining the target audience and gaining a deeper understanding into the people affected by creating personas, empathy maps and conducting interviews. Competitors are also looked at to see what has been done in the past and whether or not these ideas have worked.

1. PERSONAS

I started the development of personas. I decided to aim this product towards a younger target audience as acne mostly affects teenagers during puberty and young adults, as well as women during mensuration and menopause.

2. EMPATHY MAP

I interviewed many people about general pharmaceutical packaging. Questions I asked included:

Is the way the packaging of a product looks important to you? Why/why not?
When you buy a product, do you make sure that the packaging is recyclable?
Do you think engaging pharmaceutical packing can improve the experience of going to a pharmacy?
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve pharmaceutical packaging?

Interviewees agreed that pharmaceutical packaging was “a bit boring as it is completely white” (interview 5). However, interviewees believed that pharmaceutical packaging for prescribed medication did not need to be visually engaging.This was because “medication is chosen by function, rather than appearance” (Interview 1) and it is a necessity, so if people need it they will buy it anyway. For over the counter products however, there is more competition between brands so interviewees believed bright colours, large typography and graphics are more important so they can capture the viewers attention.

I created an empathy map based on the information I had collected.

2. EMPATHY MAP

I interviewed many people about general pharmaceutical packaging. Questions I asked included:

Is the way the packaging of a product looks important to you? Why/why not?
When you buy a product, do you make sure that the packaging is recyclable?
Do you think engaging pharmaceutical packing can improve the experience of going to a pharmacy?
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve pharmaceutical packaging?

I created an empathy map based on the information I had collected.

3. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

A competitor analysis of similar products was conducted to see what other identities did well and what they could improve on. From these, I found that have an identifiable colour system and graphics in place would be helpful in capturing the viewers eye.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS 1 - BENZAC

https://www.benzac.com/au

I do think that this identity is effective for the product. The different shades of purple allow for an easy process in identifying which products have a higher and lower concentration of the ingredient acrylates copolymer. There is one product however that contains a different colour, which is green. I am not sure why they have made this decision as the packaging does not match the rest of the packaging of the products within this identity, so I would change this to match the rest. The graphic also is a quick way to show the viewer how the product will work by cleaning deep within the skins pores.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS 2 - THURSDAY PLANTATION

https://www.facebook.com/ThursdayPlantationAustralia/posts/tea-tree-acne-control-kit-3-steps-to-clear-skin-now-in-1-handy-pack-including-te/2346589875351874/

I do think this identity and the packaging is effective for this product. The green environmental colours as well as the simple graphical components are successful in conveying the fact that these products contain natural oils that will help to clean and heal the skin. The typography also quickly and effectively shows the information to the audience such as what the product is and how to use the product. However the simpleness of the typography creates a quite professional and plain feel. I would change the typography in the logo to a more unique typeface that would stand out on the packaging.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS 3 - ROACCUTANE

https://www.roche.com/products/product-details.htm?productId=f36651ce-2625-4a13-8230-3ca0f511b417

I do think this product is effective in showing that it is a type of medicine as the packaging is very plain, professional and clinical. It would not however make me pick the packaging off the shelf as it would just blend in with all the other very clinical looking products that pharmacies. For that reason, this packaging is not effective in being engaging and visually interesting. I would change all aspects of this packaing. I would incorporate more colours and graphic images to try and fill up some of the white space. I would also change the text to be a slightly bigger size, but keep the same font to maintain a level of professionalism.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS 4 - BIORE

https://www.biore.com/en-us/pore-care/

I do think this identity is effective for this product. The graphics and typography are clear and to the point. I would however change the colouring of the packaging of the acne range. The colours used are all different depending on the ingredients the product contains, however I would make the colours used the same so that the viewer knows that these products are all part of the acne range and they do not have to read the text.

VISUAL INVESTIGATION

The visual investigation stage includes creating mind maps to help generate ideas for the development stage. During this stage, I also look at images, websites and other content found on the internet, as well as objects, books and other materials found in my surroundings to find inspiration.

1. BRAINSTORM

As part of the visual investigation, I first mind-mapped the word “acne” to see if I could generate any ideas for the brand identity. This was helpful in laying out my knowledge of acne as I included my research into natural products that are beneficial.

When conducting the visual investigation, I tried to look at unique packaging that was playful and created an interactive experience for the viewer as I wanted the packaging I was designing to contribute to the user experience. I also looked at different shapes of packaging such as rectangles, squares, triangles and hexagons so I could start thinking about how I could apply this to the product.

Images of packaging I looked at were quite simple and modern, I collected many pictures with hand drawn elements. I thought that this could provide a more personal feel for the packaging I was creating and also represent the natural ingredients in the product in an interesting way.

2. BRAND AND IDENTITY SUMMARY

After all this initial research, I started to have an idea of what this identity needed to include, what it should look like, and the outcomes. A brand and identity summary was created to identify and solidify the identity personality, character, core values and relationship with the target audience.

2. BRAND AND IDENTITY SUMMARY

DEVELOPMENT

The Development stage includes creating rough sketches and refining them with computer software, as well as experimenting with different elements such as colour, grids, layouts, typography and images until an identity is created.

1. TYPOGRAPHY

For the subheadings of different sections on the packaging, I wanted a typeface that was rough and hand drawn looking to suit the graphical components as well as the idea of natural ingredients. I chose the font Adorn Condensed Sans as I felt that the the unevenness of the letter strokes created a natural and organic feel.

For the body text, I wanted to use a simple and easy to read typeface that would display well in a small size. I chose the font charter as I thought this serif font created quite an elegant and simple feel. As it is a serif font, It would also create contrast with the subheading font as well as the logo.

2. COLOUR

I decided that for each of the different products, I would use a different colour for the packaging, to differentiate between them. I chose to use green for the tea tree cleanser, purple for the lavender moisturiser and a dark red for the natural rose-hip oil as these colours were present in these different plants.

3. LOGO

I started to develop the logo for the brand identity. I tried a few logos that included graphics such as circular shapes, but felt that a word-mark would be more suitable due to being simple. I experimented with different workmarks using uppercase, lowercase, san serif and script letterforms. After coming to a decision, I created the final logo in illustrator. I chose this as the final logo for the brand as it is simple, elegant and modern and would suit a skincare brand.

Logo development

Final logo

4. GRAPHICS

On the packaging, I wanted to somehow showcase the ingredient that was in that particular product. I decided I would do this using different drawings of plants. For the green tea cleanser, I drew images of camellia sinensis leaves, which are the leaves that are used to produce green tea. For the lavender moisturiser I drew pictures of lavender and for the natural rose-hip oil I drew images of rose-hip plants. I thought the hand drawn and rough feel of the drawings would nicely contrast with the logo.

There was also important information that I had to show on the packaging such as the products being Australian made, vegan, animal cruelty free and recyclable packaging. I showed this through the use of symbols. These symbols are easy to identify as they are used on many skincare products and effectively and quickly communicate the message to the viewer. I changed the colour of these symbols according to the packaging.

5. LAYOUT

I experimented with different shaped packaging and decided to use a rectangular shape for the packaging. This would allow for the product to stack easily on a shelf next to other products. I also thought a rectangular shape would allow me to have more space for important information such as the ingredients and directions on how to use the products.

DELIVERABLES

The deliverables includes the delivery of the final outcomes, outputs, products or identities. These outputs should address the issues raised within the problem statement.

1. THE PACKAGING

THE FRONT OF THE BOX

To create the final design I combined all the different elements from the development stage. For the front of the box, I wanted something that was eye-catching, so decided to use a gradient with the colour blending into white and the logo of the brand in the middle. I then placed the graphical components of the plants around this so the viewer can instantly see what natural ingredient the product contains.

1. THE PACKAGING

THE FRONT OF THE BOX

TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE BOX

On the top of the box I decided to put the numbers, showing the viewer the order to use the products in. This will help consumers that do not know much about skin care. On the bottom of the box I placed the barcode as I did not want this to be seen on the sides of the box.

THE SIDES OF THE BOX

I thought it was also important to have a section on the box about the brand and what they do. Sharing the brands story and their goals will help build the relationship between the consumer and the brand and entice consumers to buy the product. On this section of the box, I also placed company details such as location and contact information.

On the back of the box, I placed the directions. I decided the background of this side would be either green, purple or red depending on the product and would have a gradient with the plant images. On the last side of the box I put the ingredients as well as the symbols for recyclable packaging, Australian made, 100% vegan and animal cruelty free.

THE SIDES OF THE BOX

1. THE LABELS

I wanted the labels to be simple and match the packaging. I felt that I did not need to add any extra information onto the labels such as the directions or ingredients as this was already present on the packaging. For the labels, I created a coloured gradient that blended into white with the logo in the middle of this and white graphical images of the plants.

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