Reflective Practice Essay

Reflective Practice

The initial plan of the product was to design a handmade, limited edition packaging for NARS Cosmetics. The packaging had to successfully reflect the products within the limited edition collection and had to stand out against the regular NARS packaging. The combination of handmade design and digital design played a major part in the creation process of the product, as it had to fit in with the brand as a whole, and look sophisticated and professional.

‘Eté’ was the name chosen for the collection as the products which were going to be included were all bright, summery lipstick shades with summer related names: ‘Dolce Vita’, ‘Belle De Jour’ and ‘Mayflower’; and considering NARS is a French brand, the translation for ‘Summer’ seemed appropriate.

Throughout the idea generation and development processes, coming up with suitable ideas to fit in with both the brief and the brand became difficult at times, however after experimentation and researching for inspiration, the difficulties subsided and the design process began. After a few prototype designs and feedback from peers, one was chosen to develop further and the development stage of the design began to focus on the finer details. Making sure the composition of the background and typeface was perfect; also selecting appropriate colours to use for the collection title and the sizes of the type used was another thing which had to be considered.

The images I had found throughout my research really inspired how I was going to approach the task ahead and helped me to narrow down my ideas. The images I kept finding myself inspired by all had very similar aesthetics and this made the beginning of the design process relatively easy. Figures 1-4 show some of the examples I took to the next stages of designing the product; whether it being the colour scheme which inspired me, or the actual content of the image.

The background of the product is a handmade design which was created using various makeup products and physically putting it over a piece of paper, using fingers to smooth some areas out and merge some of the colours together. After testing several swatches using this method, one was selected and photographed from different angles to test how they could look when put alongside the digital aspects of the design. The combination of the handmade elements with the digital relates to the theme of Technology and how over time digital programmes such as Illustrator and Photoshop have overtaken the handmade methods of design. As stated previously in the research into handmade techniques vs. digital, the mystery within digital design is no comparison to the excitement of the unknown within handmade design; ‘everyone has the ability to connect to the inventiveness, danger and downright fun of directly applied experimentation’ (Lichtenstein and Studinka, 2005).

The self-set brief had to have relevance towards Technology for it being the main topic of discussion throughout the module. Creating a Limited Edition packaging design was something that came to mind instantaneously, however I had to find an appropriate brand it could be done for. This was where the research played a key part, and it was an image (Figure 5) that inspired me to create it for a makeup brand. This then followed on to researching into various makeup brands, and how I could select a company that uses a very minimal design for their branding. NARS Cosmetics are well known for their simplistic packaging, so it seemed suitable to select them as my client for this brief. Having a contrast between a handmade design and their usual minimal design is perfect for a limited edition collection, as it is a completely different aesthetic for the brand and would stand out amongst their usual packaging.

     It was important to combine the handmade techniques with the digital, as in order for the product to fit in with the existing branding of NARS Cosmetics, it had to include some of it’s normal characteristics, alongside the new design for the new collection. I would have liked to create something completely hand made as it can open up more opportunities within the design process which can improve your design; as Anthony Burrill stated “I like that aspect of it – that I’m not completely in control.”(Burrill, 2013). However, because of the lack of control and accuracy, it would not be suitable for this brief due to it needing to fit in with the original NARS branding. If this was to be developed I would like to attempt creating this as a screen print as it would mean I could experiment with various colours and compositions, however for now the final outcome will be digitally produced.

The final outcome successfully used both digital and analog techniques and proved that the combination of the two work in perfect harmony. This was something that was important to portray within my final outcome as within Graphic Design, many debate Analog or Digital, rather than offering the option of using both. Both techniques have their pros and cons throughout design and it is important to consider these when producing a piece of work. The feedback I have received throughout this module from my peers was positive and useful as it helped me to successfully develop and refine my work so that the final outcome was the best product it could be. The outcome of this brief was therefore a success and I am proud of the work that has been produced as it fits in with my criteria and has been well executed.

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Bibliography:

Lichtenstein, C. and Studinka, F. (2005) Handmade graphics refuse to go quietly. Available at: http://www.eyemagazine.com/review/article/handmade-graphics-refuse-to-go-quietly (Accessed: 11 January 2017).

Burrill. Staff, C.B. (2013) The future of handmade design. Available at: http://www.creativebloq.com/future-handmade-design-5132895 (Accessed: 20 January 2017).