This project stemmed from a prompt to create an entity to benefit the health and education of underserved markets. My teammates and I chose to focus on creating a skincare entity that provides useful resources for people with melanated skin, and which reaches out through multiple levels of interactivity. A core value in creating this entity was communicating the message that no skin is bad skin, "blemishes" don't need to be hidden, and physical discomfort or pain should be the motivator in searching for skincare products; a "medicine, not makeup" approach.
GD 301 - Branding, Interaction, & Service Design
Fall 2020
Collaborators: Karuna Gangwani, Jillian Tyler
My Focus: Visual identity, physical packaging
Creating the Visual Language
The Logotype
Since the brand emphasizes normalizing "imperfect" skin as a core value, we wanted the logotype to reflect some variation of imperfectness. We chose to stylize texture/bumpiness in this custom typography which became the basis of our brand's visual language, the stepping stone from which we derived our bump and curved-line motifs.
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Images at right show process work from my early iterations and experimentation in developing this logotype.
Early iterations
Color/line experiments
Shape/stroke experiments
Early iterations
The Motif
Establishing Physical Packaging
Final Versions
My plan for screen printing graphic elements in the beginning was to use bleach instead of traditional ink in order to have the light color pop on dark fabric, as well as to utilize the materiality of bleach as a subtractive element to further the concept of a devolution, a sort of breaking down and away, from reality. After a lot of testing on different fabric types using different concentrations and viscosities of bleach (undiluted liquid—bled and lost clarity, cornstarch/water gel mixture—cornstarch created film keeping bleach from soaking into fabric, toilet cleaner gel—ate through screen emulsion and did not affect fabric), I concluded that bleach wasn't going to give me the results I'd hoped for, so I switched gears and began testing with traditional screen print ink.
Mailer, open
Shipping boxes
Mailer, closed
Mailer, open
A few hand silkscreens
Negatives for burning into screens
Hand print stretch catsuit
A few hand silkscreens
Creating the Visual Language
The Logotype
Since the brand emphasizes normalizing "imperfect" skin as a core value, we wanted the logotype to reflect some variation of imperfection. We chose to stylize texture/bumpiness in this custom typography which became the basis of our brand's visual language, the stepping stone from which we derived our bump and curved-line motifs.
​
Images at right show process work from my early iterations and experimentation in developing this logotype.
Early iterations
Color/line experiments
Shape/stroke experiments
Early iterations
The Motif
The Iconography
Pulling from the organic shapes in the custom logotype helped us derive DEEP's “bump” motif, which we utilize in myriad formats and which provides flexibility in terms of stylistic options, strengthening the brand’s visual identity.
Images at left illustrate variations of the “bump” in action.
We chose to incorporate custom iconography which reflects how products are consciously picked in order to strengthen DEEP’s sense of social-awareness, a core facet of its brand. I designed the icons to match the smiling logomark I created in tandem with the logotype.
Final iconography system
Icon shape iterations
Icon color/line iterations
Final iconography system
Deriving the motif
Motif x posters
Motif x physical signage
Deriving the motif
Establishing Physical Packaging
Early Iterations
While ideating package designs early on, I explored more broadly with a variety of color and motif usage in order to strengthen the visual brand's presence within its physical packaging. After further discussion and ideation with my team, we decided that these brighter, full-coverage packaging designs were a bit too impractical in terms of sustainability (printing costs, excess ink and machinery), and thus didn't align with one of our entity's values, so we opted for simpler, stamp-based packaging shown below.
Box iteration
Early box cover iteration
Box iteration
Final Versions
After scrapping the idea of more full-coverage printed packaging, the more sustainable solution we landed on was to use a few different custom stamps on plain shipping boxes and mailers in order to minimize production waste, only utilizing custom printing on recycled tissue paper inside our mailer boxes to enhance the brand presence for custom orders.
Final Production: Video & Booklet
*Video editing and production done by me
