Packaging Design Project
Printing details
☞ Box paper: Packaging card, heavy weight, glossy stock
☞ Box paper: Packaging card, heavy weight, glossy stock
Mysore Sandalwood is an iconic local brand from the state of Karnataka, India, that has a rich history of producing sandalwood soaps and other cosmetics/fragrance products from the 1916’s. The brand started with production of sandalwood soaps before eventually branching out to different sandalwood scented products.
The aim of the project was to re-design a series or set of products and their packaging for a relaunch/brand refresh. I wanted to re-design the packaging of their three iconic products: soap, body wash and incense sticks, focusing on maintaining a historical flair, taking inspiration from the history of Mysore and 1980’s Indian match box designs. I wanted to keep a bright and vibrant colour palette that can be found across India, with old-school typefaces and bold patterns to create an effective visual impact whilst also featuring text written in Kannada.
Earlier renditions of the design consisted of various experiments with colour schemes and decorative elements. The earlier design on the left features a more calming colour scheme with a rose border. One of the main challenges of this design rendition was balancing elements such as the product name since the space inside the border was circular. The earlier design on the right features a more vibrant colour scheme paired with patterns and illustrations of, the national animal of India, a tiger, alongside rectangular space.
Over the course of designing, another primary challenge I had to overcome was nailing down the brand name. I was keen on exploring movement and fluidity of the text, drawing inspiration from vintage design examples ranging from 1920’s to 1980’s. This also had to be functional and easily readable, since the packaging boxes were small in dimensions and paired with other elements, such as decorative borders, meant that the space was limited.
Prototype nets of the products shown below. The bold pattern was also printed on the inside of the box to provide a unqiue visual experience for the user.
