Packaging

Now that my product is pretty much done I need to decide on how I'm going to package it. To help with this decision I've been looking at how stationery is packaged. Here are some of the examples.



The important point of this packaging isn't the colour scheme or the tone. Because for my aim's it's pretty much the opposite of what I'm trying to acheive. However the structure of it is pretty interesting to think about as an option. Although, I'm effectively going to be packaging a box, unless the contents are lose. If the content's are going to be lose, having a hole in the front probably isn't the best design idea. I also feel a bit uncomfortable about putting a pencil case straight in a cardboard box, that amount of packaging isn't necessary.



Vacuum packing onto cardboard is a possible option as it allows the contents to be loose and to see what's inside. There are two options of doing this that I can think of, one is vacuum forming the shape of all the objects similar to the example above. Or to vacuum form a basic shape that they will all fit into, like the example below.



Again with this though, it's not really necessary. I don't think vacuum forming the packaging really add's anything to it, other than producing more packaging (which will increase production costs) and being able to see the contents. But there are other ways to achieve that.



Listing the contents of the set seems like something I should include, especially if I do end up with a packaging solution that doesn't allow instant viewing of the contents.



This packaging is probably my favourite of the examples. It's simple, and functional. The cellopgane is something I am keen on, as it protects the objects and isn't bulky. It also allows for the products to be seen instantly.
The way the eraser is packaged I'm also interested in. The use of a wrap around piece of card, which has all the product information on. This offers a place for the branding, allows the product to be viewed and there isn't a lot of it. This is something that I may develop for my product.

For my print solution to this brief I considered a comic strip a suitable option. However, despite enjoying reading comics when I was younger and appreciating the imagery, I was putting off actually producing any illustrations for it, as I didn't feel comfortable drawing the characters. That was until I came across this book "Tim the Tiny Horse" - written and illustrated by Harry Hill. This was really useful to help me develop my approach to the task at hand. The humour used is ideal and the style of illustration makes me feel a lot more comfortable and suits the kind of narrative my book/comic strip will have.



"Little people in the city" is also a useful resource when looking at scale of people in comparison to the environment. However, a lot of the content involves making miniature props which isn't something I'm interested in doing for this brief. Also the humour used is probably not suitable for a younger audience.



This is a stationery set that was given away free with a Dr Who magazine. It's interesting to see how they've used the Dr Who brand across the stationery. This has given me some sort of idea how to approach my branding of the stationery.



I bought these pieces of stationery because they have the ability to be re-branded. Also it's interesting to see how they have approached branding the objects. Unlike the Dr Who example they have used labels and other packaging to do this, whereas the Dr Who stationery was printed straight onto/used stickers. These are two possible approaches I could take.

Some Print Research

An example of some of the print research I have been doing, taking notes of all the things I'm finding it difficult to remember.