The Sketchy Part

Personas: 

Nathan Verne

He is a successful business man, who lives a very organized and disciplined life. He practices tai-chi and meditates as a form to release stress and preserve his disciplinary habit. He believes that by mastering your body, you master your emotion which allows him to make better decisions without allowing his emotions take control. Some of his other habits, are boxing and winning in general.

Natalya Erickson

She is fashion writer, she is a very perfectionist, hardworking person. She meditates as a mean to relax and clear her mind. She also practices yoga, and plays tennis on the weekends. She runs 4 miles every morning before getting to work. She constantly tries to find ordinary things with hidden beauty, that are at plain sight but nobody stops to look at them, she believes that beauty is in the small details that life gifts you.

Daniel del Pozo

He is a art school, student. He studies painting, and is under constant pressure and stress due to stress meditating helps him relieve some of that stress and to clear his mind in order to perform his task in a better way. Some of his other habits include going to the movies, reading books and collecting bottle caps.

Packaging Questionaire

General


How do people identify products in a grocery store?
Usually by brand name, or the sections where they are placed in

How do they discover new things on the shelf?
Through their eyes, mainly by finding something visually appealing , be it the design or the language in the packaging.

How does the context affect the scale and legibility of the text?
It is affected by the perspective in which the buyer needs to look the product, as well as how practical it is for the too look at it or to get in a position that is comfortable to do so.

In what ways does packaging affect the user's experience once at home?
It contains additional information that allows the buyer to understand better the product, it should also be capable of improving the buyer's life in some way more that just the product that it contains.

How might that be altered, improved or made more meaningful?
By adding a certain kind of connotation that attempts to create a specific kind of culture, be it the language, the materials or the form that the package possesses. 

How do various surfaces work together to tell a complete product story, including govt. regulated information?
By creating a visual flow that its comfortable for the eye to assimilate the information that is being wanted to communicate.

The Big Picture

Product Name:

NAG CHAMPA

Background Information on the product:

Nandi Imports is a leading importer and distributor of fine quality incense, aromatherapy and home fragrance products and hand-crafted gifts from India and Nepal. In addition to the world famous Nag Champa Incense, they carry our own exclusive line of Nag Champa Soaps, Perfume Oils, Candles, Sprays and Reed Diffusers.  Our popular Nag Champa Bath and Body products are now made in Petaluma, California. With our Nag Champa Spa line, you can enjoy your favorite Nag Champa scent in a fantastic variety of quality products, including Nag Champa Lotion, Shower Gel, Shampoo and Spray.

They are a family-run business which was established in Northern California in 1974. 

What is the Description?
Its seems like a product that satisfies the needs of its buyers, it is easy to handle 

What are the benefits of the product?
Helps to conduct ceremonial or ritual costumes in a more effective way, it also creates a comfortable environment.

Additional Information:
It seems to be based in Hindi traditions and techniches, also related with Budhist and Tibetan culture.

Problem
Challenges to address
Right now the package seems to be more like an artifact of mass production, and lacks the modesty and familiar properties that the creator seems to be inteding to communicate.

Current Packaging.
Components: Right now it just seems like a basic comercial product, carelessly design (without love) it does contain all the gov. regulations an demanded information. The material, to me, seems to have a lot of potential in my possibilities for creative exploration regarding culture and visual representation.

Competitors
Some of the strongest competitors seem to be Knox, Maroma and Genieco.In the shelf they seem to just be sitting to each other and NAH CHAMPA doesn't seem to be winning in regard of attracting attention, at least visually.

Positioning
I want the design to be able to inform the buyer about the product but at the same time to be visually appealing as to be to attract the eye, and then to appeal to their logos + ethos.  At the moment the current package seems to be placeble in either shleves, kiosks, racks. I am not certain of which direction I want to follow yet pertaining to the environment of the product placement.

Some of my ideas for the design is to create a visual sensation/experience that inspires the buyer to want to use the product (buy it). I might want to grab inspiration from oriental cultural influences as part of the packaging. 

Incense is usually sold in packs, so maybe I want to create an extra container to protect the integrity of the product.

The USP seems to be Naturalist+organic shops that attract individuals looking for a particular lifestyle.

THE MARKET SEGMENT
Who are we communicating to?
Like I previously mentioned the target clientele would be individuals looking for a particular lifestyle, that relates to the spiritual and physical well being. Although the product might also be used for practical purposes, the main audience would be relatively specific.

RESEARCH

http://www.nagchampa.com/index.php?route=common/home

No tagline

Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/nagchampa108
https://twitter.com/nagchampaspa

Creative Objectives and Goals

I want to create a visual product that has human qualities and allows the viewer to relate to. I am not sure as how I want to treat the mandatory elements yet, I rather decide as I go through the creative process.

Screen Iterations

Hot Sardines: Motion Final (Pre-Critique)

Hot Sardines from derick lopez on Vimeo.

Hot Sardines: Billboard + Program Finals (Revised)

Tender Buttons: A Parallax Sequence-Self Relection

Explain your process/tools for this project. Analog? Sound? The process was very straightforward, but mainly I saw it as an opportunity to challenge myself and try something new, thus the use of the Parallax effect which paired with a slow soothing music created an atmosphere which I feel allowed the viewer to submerge themselves into the narrative; technically speaking. The end result was very satisfying to me because it served the purpose that it was intended for. There were still some small digital craft issues that I plan on fixing in the near future. Does your project communicate the feel of Stein's work? As I previously mentioned, I think that it does in fact serves its purpose successfully, said purpose being to communicate my perspective/view on Stein's work. What did you learn about yourself through this project? I learned that when I challenge myself when working on a project, and when I succeed in that challenge it fills like a great rewarding experience. It also gives me confidence going into the future, knowing that I can do things I never expected to be able to, which encourages me to keep doing that sort of risky and yet rewarding experimentation. Does it apply to future work? Definitely! I am already planning on using this technique in the fabrication of my website in the Pro-Practice class. I will also use what I learner whenever I am given an opportunity in which said methods are appropriate to the overall design challenge. More importantly, I want to keep learning new things, explore until I find what better suits me.

Central Station: Research + Inspirations

History Resource

http://www.unionstation.org/news/electrifying-digital-show-celebrate-100-years-union-station-history-and-thrill-audience-ending

Photos

Inspirations

We Need Nothing to Collide from Mark Wheeler on Vimeo.

Array at YCAM from United Visual Artists on Vimeo.

HDC: Self-Evaluation

My life of HDC

Overall I am very content with how much work I've been able to invest in the projects. This has allowed me to feel more comfortable (and kind of proud) about my end result. I also think that I've been successful in having in mind the human relationship with my design from the ver conception of the concept to the final execution of the technical aspect.  This has certainly made me more aware that I enjoy my work more when it is successfully serving its purpose rather than just being aesthetically appealing.

Sometimes its really hard for me to visualize alternative creative solutions (iterations) that are equally as smart/engaging as the one idea that I feel most attached to,  so I guess, in this aspect, I try to find a way were my favorite choice of an specific iteration is not stoping me from trying hard to find other solutions that might be as good or even better. I also know that I am really bad at calculating how much time doing something it will take me, and sometimes I just spend a lot of time on and idea that at the moment might not be the most appropriate at the moment. I also need to get better at judging which Ideas I want to invest effort in, and how much effort I want to invest in the in order to maximize my productivity and burn less my brain which at times disrupts my creativity.

So there, that is all I got for now.

Hot Sardines: Program + Billboard

Living with Steel: Progress

Tender Buttons: A parallax sequence (Final)

Hot Sardines: Poster + Program + Wireframes

Living with Steel: Spread progress