COP 3 Practical: Initial Ideas

Based on visual research I have decided to create three brand outcomes of different aesthetics. Firstly I've looked at a more scientific aesthetic as this is popular within the gender neutral skincare market. Furthermore a lot of existing brands take a natural approach to their skincare as this appears to be a selling point to consumers, creating a holistic aesthetic to their branding. In addition to experimenting with these existing aesthetic within the market, I wanted to experiment with colour and pattern in order to create something different, that would stand out from existing product.

Type Experiments:
Different sans serif typefaces have been explored (see figure 1) in order to identify those that might work well within a skincare brand. The use of sans serif type allows a modern, clean aesthetic to be associated with a brand. Multiple typefaces where explored with a few having the potential to work well within a skincare brand, due to the simple and neutral characteristics. However I also plan to explore the use of serif typefaces that are a little different to traditional serifs to see how they would work within a less clinical aesthetic which traditionally associated within skincare.

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Figure 2

Pattern:

In order to create a contrast against existing brands I decided to create a repeat pattern based on research conducted surrounding Heka. I discovered that Heka the god of magic/medicine was also used to signify power and is often expressed through the heart and tongue as many believe he is present at the point of creation. I decided to experiment with illustrations of the heart and tongue to create a repeat patter. Initially I was concerned the use of these symbols, especially the heart would appear too feminine which was the case when they where used together (see figure 3). This lead to the development of removing the heart and just using the tongue, however the tongue on its own still looked quite feminine (see figure 3). Therefore I looked at removing sections of the illustration in order to create a more abstract representation (see figures 4). These where more successful with the half tongue (see figure 5) being the most successful as it still references the symbolism without being too obvious. whereas the other experiments where slightly too simplified. In order to evaluate the potential feminine aspect of the design, colour was used to see if this could be eliminated. The use of orange, charcoal and red where initial seen as gender neutral colours (see figure 6-7), as neither seem to have any direct connotations with gender however more research will need to be conducted in order to establish this. The use of Poppins in bold and light compliments the simple line illustrations creating a modern aesthetic, with the simplicity of the type having little to no gender connotations. However the use of the bold type could be classes as masculine however when placed with the rounded illustrations I feel this impact is limited. Although the design reflects the name of the brand it doesn't look like a skincare/cosmetics brand due to the illustration used. 

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In order to further develop the idea of using a repeat pattern in order contrast against existing branding I've looked at the hieroglyph for Heka also known as power in order to identify aspects I could use within a patter (see figure 8). This lead to using lines from within the twisted flask and the curved sections of the hands to create a more abstract, modern representation of the hieroglyph (see figures 8-9). Initially I looked mainly at the lines from the hands as these complimented each other quite well, however this wasn't as successful as I was hoping (see figure 9). Therefor I started to look at the wavy lines more, using a thicker stroke to create a more modern aesthetic (see figure 10-11). The combination of some wavy and some curved lines works well as there is a greater contrast within the patter (see figure 11). Furthermore have the lines thicker and bigger created a more interesting pattern as the smaller lines within earlier experiments lacked impact. Although I had previously only experimented with sans serif typefaces I decided to use GT Sectra Display Trial as the modern serif created a nice contrast against the curved lines (see figures 12-13). Furthermore the majority of brands I've looked at within my research use sans serif typeface, allowing the branding to stand out more as the serif would stand out against competitors. I also experimented with a sans serif typeface but felt this was too extended and gave the impression of a club poster (see figure 14).

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Figure 14