OUGD601 - Practical Social Media

To add to the finished outcome of the subscription box, an Instagram page for the brand had been set up. This way, the brand could promote its products to the target audience on a platform they are most likely to use. This also gives them the option to quickly tag other people and share the brand with others. During the research stages of the investigation, it was found that many of the subscription services would use Instagram as a way to promote their own product. Therefore, Panacea would be competing on the same platform and therefore reaching the same audience as others.




                                                                                                                        For the Instagram account, the layout for each post could be seen on the profiles home page. Giving an enlarged image of each monthly edition also gave me the idea to create different posts, which would either display certain months packages or special editions.

This would then allow the brand to show its diversity and adaptability to certain times of the year, as well as its ability to collaborate with other brands. 

 Here is an example of an LGBTQ+ special edition that was made with the intention of being posted on nine different posts. This way it could be viewed in full on the home page.

Within the posts was the 20% off a year subscription offer, which visitors could then use to sign up with.

 Although these alternatives had not been tested during development stages in the project, I still felt they would be necessary to the potential adaptability of the brand. The idea was to create a colour palette that could be used for each month, based on the monthly zodiac signs and the meanings of colours that were associated with each zodiac month.

This provided the opportunity to develop certain alternatives that could have shown how the brand would work on a yearly basis and what they could offer their customers in terms of originality.

If there had been more time to create these prototypes during development, there would have been the potential to test them based on their appearance and effectiveness. This would have also allowed for special edition to be produced, such as collaborative projects involving others work or a particular event in the year.

OUGD601 - Practical Outcome

Here is the final design printed on the brown mailing box and photographed along side the contents. I particularly like how the design only required a single colour to be used, as the background came through the lettering on the lid of the box. However, I also think that white would have worked better for this design because it contrasts the darker background packaging, whereas here it is a dark coloured label.

Had I been able to find more of these brown boxes at an earlier stage in the development, it may have been possible to try different colours and methods of printing. I think that screen printing would have been a quick and easy option to have used for this, as it would remove the shiny finish on the top of the box and it would look more contemporary.





















After testing on the brown box, the same design principles were applied to the white boxes and also photographed for analysing. I think that in terms of consistency, this approach using white was a better outcome overall. This was because the boxes matched the contents, but also allowed the contents to look unique in its own way. Trying 2 different design approaches for the covers on the boxes, showed that the blue and yellow versions were better received in terms of their aesthetic approach.










As for the inside of the boxes, I thought that the simple black label gave the design a more fashionable approach as it was similar to some high street brands' approach to typeface. I think that the colours used on the contents labels worked well also, as it gave the design a somewhat playful and universal approach. This was something that was initially aimed for when designing the brand, as it would propose an alternative approach to gender specific design and offer something for everyone.
Overall, I think that the outcome using the white boxes proved to be the best option in the end. This also proved to be a more substantial idea to pursue, rather than the idea to only create the labels for the contents. This provided the opportunity to analyse the use of transparent sticker with other materials and surfaces. While it wasn't as perfected as intended, I do think that the outcome was overall a success and the practical journey will prove to be useful for future practice.

OUGD601 - Practical Prototype

Now that the labels have been fully designed and the cover for the box had been finalised, it was time to apply them to the packaging. Both the brown box and the white boxes would be used for this experiment. Therefore, it would be possible to determine which ones are most successful at solving the initial problem and assessing how it could have improved. The chosen method of production for the labels was to print various sizes of the design on to transparent sticker paper and then apply them to the boxes.

For the first trial print, this would be the design used in the process. This was chosen because it was the most likely version to work on both brown and white surfaces, when applied to the boxes. It would also give me a brief idea of how the other labels might look when printed and what other changes may need to be made to the design or sizing of the image.

 I began by adding the different colour variations of the labels to an A3 document, so that when printed each label could be cut out and applied to the boxes and containers. This meant adding different variations of the bottle designs and switching the colours between each, so that once they are applied the best ones can be chosen for the final photographs.

For the outer designs, I printed the designs at various sizes so that they could fit the dimensions of the brown box (23cm x 24cm) and the white box (18cm x 22cm).

The print out sheets also included different sized and coloured variations of the brand name. This would be applied to the inside of the lid on each box.

The labels for the products within the box included a hand wash, a moisturiser, facial wipes and body wash. Giving a variation of products allowed for different colours to be matched to each one appropriately.


Using a craft knife and cutting board, the designs were then separated and then organised into the two design approaches.

When comparing them with the containers and the boxes, it was clear that the labels that used coloured text instead of a coloured box would add variety to the outcome. Therefore, these were the labels that were chosen for the application during the final stages. In terms of the materials that were chosen for the outcome, it became apparent that the idea to use transparent sticker paper may have been best on the product labels alone. The cover design for each box would have been better printed on using a screen print, as this would have made the outcome more cost effective, less time consuming and professionally presentable overall. However, I believe that the stickers worked well for the inside of the boxes, as they were the same material found on the original packaging of the bottles and the white surface allowed the text on each to stand out.

OUGD601 - Practical Labels for Containers

After finding out that the brown mailing box was perfectly sized for the white containers, I began recreating the labels that had previously been abandoned. These would also be designed with the white mailing boxes in mind, so that when they are delivered they can be tested on them as well. In terms of the approach to these labels, they would also need to follow the same aesthetic as the outer design of the box. Therefore, the same guidelines, font and colours may be applied as a way to show consistency throughout the identity of the brand.

The labels were designed with the same colour palette as the outer design, so that the box would show consistency throughout. At this stage however, it is still unclear whether the inner design on the labels should remain text focused or whether it should also apply the coloured squares around the branding. Further discussion with peers during the final critique will determine which approach will work best and how this may work when produced.

Alternative design approach

Personally, I prefer the first set of label designs as it looks as though the coloured square is taken away once the lid of the box is lifted and the bottles are revealed. The text used within the labels could also respond to the brand name at the bottom, as it could use darker shades of the same colour. This would make the body text more legible when applied to a white container background.

OUGD601 - Practical Materials

Once the ideas for the design has been decided on, it was time to try them out on the materials. I was able to get different sized boxes from shops and post offices around town that had no use for them. Among these boxes was the perfect sized mailing box that I had been looking for. However, I was unable to find any in white and instead had to order them online. As the boxes were limited in supply, I had to keep the brown postal box for the final stage of testing incase it would be needed as the final outcome packaging. 

The box would hold the resources that were previously gathered, in case they could be used at a later stage of development. These resources were all white containers that had the labels removed and they were then placed within the postal box to see how they would look. Of the three bottles that were found, they seemed to fit perfectly into the mailing box and still left room for any other potential items to be added. 

The next step from here, would be to resize the designs so that they will fit the outer lid of the boxes and the labels for the containers. Once this has been done, the designs can then be printed onto the packing and studied for their appearance. This will also determine which process would best suit the outcome and what may have improved when it comes to the final result.

OUGD601 - Practical Mock ups

Now that the colour scheme and designs had been decided, it is necessary to test these ideas in mock ups. To do so, I have used online mock ups of the cardboard boxes so that it can be decided which shaped box will work the best in the outcome.

The first set of mock ups allowed the designs to be displayed on brown cardboard boxes. Out of the designs that were tried, the best version was the plain white text because it kept the packaging very minimal and allowed the colour of the cardboard to fit the design. This also gave me the idea to try the designs again but on a white box, as the labels could then be altered to be just one colour.

With the coloured square added to the white boxes, the labels were able to stand out as a single colour. In terms of how this may be beneficial to the production, the white in the text could be removed and then the design would only require one colour to be used in the printing process. One idea that came into discussion from these mock ups, would be to create an information card within the box itself, so that when opened it would mach the same size and style of the outer square. The card within the box could then list the monthly items that are included in the edition.

Thinking about the seasonal theme of each box, meant trying patterns that could potentially be used at certain points in the year. Here is a winter themed snowflake design that was added to the December edition. An alternative idea to this would be to assign different colours to all 12 months of the year or to use certain images and patterns to distinguish each.

OUGD601 - Practical Development (Colour)

When deciding on which colours to use in the final design, I began by dividing the styles into different sections and comparing colours to different backgrounds.

Here, the text focuses on the outline stroke and how the colour would be the central focus. One thing that became clear was that the use of flat colours would bring the design more neutral features.

The design focused particularly on the layout being within a perfect square, so that it would fit the dimensions of the box full sized. This idea was then paired with the previous by adding black text on the outer layer of the square, to contrast the white text within.


Finally, all these elements were combined within one design to see whether they would work or if they should be avoided. This meant that the design would include the bold white text within the square, the bold black text on the outer layer and the outline stroke text in the top right hand corner. After making these, it seemed that the design became too varied in its approach and added complication to the structure. Therefore, the ideas were shared with others and the response I received showed that the white text was the best option on its own. This could then be paired with the outer text, using the colour of the square as negative space.

I then went back to the original method of testing these colours and styles on a brown background, similar to the cardboard boxes it would likely be printed on.

Chosen colour palette.

After testing all of the colours I picked out a select few that could be used in the prototype phase of development. As you can see, the colours that were chosen varied from one another as this would highlight either particular months/editions or it could be used to distinguish between the products found within the packaging.