Design Process

Never having gone through the process of developing a brand and only mocking up conceptual packaging before this, I have found myself quite stressed out over the real world plausibility that the task of hand presents to me. Does this cashew group need a logo? Will they ever hand out business cards? Will they ever diversify their product line? And more immediately, will my design represent them well? Will it say the right things to the right audience? Will it be affordable? Will it be easy enough to use that they will actually use it? Not easy questions.

After brainstorming, not only with Princesa Cashews, but most of the Kasoy Processors from San Jose, not all of whom are directly involved in this project, I spent a lot of time rapidly visualizing iconography, and mocking up package ideas from cardboard torn off the back of sketch pads. Part of this internship, is not only producing something for these people, but also learning about my own process, which is difficult when you are knew to just about anything. I spent a fair bit of time going through design process and marketing notes, and in hindsight, probably wasted time, but I wanted to have as clear an idea as possible of what I should be proposing. I spent time thinking about what kind of message to send, what project levels there were to consider, and what contexts needed to be addressed. I realized pretty quickly that these sorts of projects are often taken on by specialized firms, and there was no way to do this perfectly the first time, with little assistance.

I came up with a couple of solutions which seem to fit the bill. A few were typographic in nature, as I thought that a somewhat more elegant package would surely elevate these cashews above their contemporaries and make it possible to aim at a wider market. I also contemplated a design with stark, bold sans serif type and a loud graphic illustration that might appeal to a younger market. Lastly, I created an illustration, which collaged in outline, many of the local symbols, including palm trees, animals, and the wonderful signpost which marks the entry into each and every barangay in Puerto Princesa. I applied these to several plausible package forms, and now I have no idea what to do next.

It has become quite apparent to me that, although there is good design, and bad design, there is no right design. I could make a thousand ideas and many of them could work. So now comes the moment of truth. We will have to meet once again with the Kasoy Processors of San Jose and find out what they like and what they will actually use. (see package concepts) (see package process)