Project Assignment
Blooming Impressions was the cumulative project of a class in Packaging Design that focused on chocolate bar packaging. The assignment was to create a chocolate bar brand identity, bar form, and dielines considering both aesthetic, sensory, and technical requirements.
Softwares
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Dimension, Autodesk Fusion, Fantastic Fold, Procreate
Inspiration and Concept
During the time of this project I worked part time at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, part of the Georgia Institute of Technology. This museum’s collection base is the collection of Dard Hunter, a world renown paper expert. However, Dard Hunter was also a graphic designer during the American Arts and Crafts movement. His design work while with Roycroft served as my initial inspiration for visual language.
My concept bloomed from the values of the Arts and Crafts movement, for things to be multifunctional and the belief that anyone can be crafters. The Blooming Impressions bars are each dark chocolate and an additional flavor rooted in the motifs of the Arts and Crafts movement: rose, poppy, and iris. The packaging of Blooming Impressions bars offers two unique stencils that can be cut out and used in a variety of ways by consumers, as well as resources and guidance in the craft.
Branding Ideations
As a brand inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, certain aspects of the branding, such as the color palette and typography, were straightforward decisions. When it came to deciding which elements needed to be included for the bar packaging, and which needed variations based on the flavor, my challenge was unifying all of the assets to have a cohesive visual language.
The first way I did this was by using parts of the base branding as small components in other elements. I used the different letters of the type as shapes to build parts of other elements such as the brandmark, the corner flourishes, parts of the stencils, and more.
The next way was by using elements as a “guide” when I created new ones or updated old ones to ensure the style was the same. When developing the Poppy Bar assets, I kept the Rose Bar assets nearby to make sure they dimensionally and aesthetically made sense together.
Bar Ideations
The bar needed to have tapered outer edges and curved edges to be able to release from a manufacturing mold. I set the scorelines to be deep enough that breakage would only happen on the scores and not break the pips but not too deep that the auditory element of the snap would be lost.
Dieline Ideations
Due to the form of my packaging, the dieline had a lot of design panels available. My first step was to determine what information needs to be included, and where in the “unpackaging” experience it should go to best engage the consumer.
The first attention grabbing feature is the stencil cutout on the front panel, the back panel then offers more information on the concept and offerings of the bar as well as a “sneak peak” to a secondary stencil. Once opening the box, the left panel offers the brand story while the second stencil is displayed on the right. Once the left panel is unfolded, a space for the consumer to try out stenciling is on display. Once the chocolate bar is taken out, an example project is given as well as a qr code for more resources.
Real World Constraints
FDA requirements for chocolate packaging was met on all panels: Primary Panel (Front: Declaration of product (i.e. chocolate), Net Wt.); Secondary Panel (Back: Nutrition Label in Helvetica with proper typefaces and pt sizes, Ingredients, Allergen Information, Address, Contact Information); the expiration date. I used the Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Bar, 72% cacao, 3.5 oz bar as a reference for nutrition information.
The material I designed for is a .0197in thick paperboard with a lamination coating to make it both waterproof and durable as the stencils need to be reusable and long lasting. The cutting method I imagined is lasercutting for high precision of stencil cuts. The chocolate bar would be wrapped in foil.
Sensory Design + Packaging ExperienceLuxury and craft were at the center of the packaging design not only in the visuals, but in the experience of engaging with the product. From the stencil cutouts providing tactile explorations to the act of unfolding the laminated paperboard as art and story are revealed, the packaging is meant to be an inspiring experience.
Final Packaging