The Saucy Fish Co - Outer Packaging Development

Knowing that the main part of this brief is the functionality of the packaging as opposed to a radical aesthetic re-design and that the outer box shape from my prototype was going to be carried forward I started working on the for it. It makes sense to start with this part as I'll need to know the sizes of the margins in order to create nets that will correctly align the windows.

The Saucy Fish Co use very bright colours, but I feel they're a bit feminine at the moment as they tend to be pastel shades. By using more concentrated colours the femininity is neutralised somewhat whilst also making the colours more exciting, something the brief requires. Using more concentrated colours meant that rather than using black I'd use a slightly off-black to make the contrast not as heavy. I used a different shade for each colour, tinting the black with the main colour slightly each time.

The 4 colours are to be used for different flavour categories of fish; green for herby flavours, orange for cheesy flavours, red for spicy flavours, and purple for any other obscure flavours.

Like in my initial drawings I used the wobbly line in the logo as a design feature all the was around the box, this is a relevant way to add the colour to the packaging as the brand is generally quite stingy in it's use of colour because it's so bright. The nets look like below with the colours applied.

I started working on the layout of the text near the edges first to establish margins. I used 9mm margins to allow enough width for 3 layers of corrugated cardboard to fit inside, this will give the box plenty of structural integrity and still leave enough room on the inner of the design so the window won't lay over the corrugated card. I made sure to put the logo or at least the logotype on each face so that it's recognisable from every angle it could be seen at on a shelf.

I used 5mm gutters as I wanted the information to be kept close together to match the very fine leading in the logo. The current packaging tends to use full capitals, I saw no reason to change this as it matches the bold use of colour within the branding - I used Avenir Next Bold in various sizes between 10 and 18 point to create a hierarchy of type, Avenir Next looks very similar to the logotype. Colour also helps this hierarchy but it was mainly done to mirror the use of colour in the logo, the colour on top, white below.

Initially I wanted a photograph on the back of the packaging, but after seeing how this looked in practice I wasn't sure if it was appropriate, various people advised me the it was far too square and contrasted with the curved lines used throughout the rest of the packaging - they suggested that the are should be used for text about the product instead.

The placement of the text worked well in all 4 colours

I then created an isometric diagram to display the packaging on in future, I did this now so I could test the packaging in it's current state to make sure I hadn't missed anything glaringly obvious so I could change it now while I'm at an early stage.

A quick mock-up showed the packaging to look like this, which I'm really happy with for this stage of the brief.