Essay Practical: Designing the Box

After finishing the design for the front of my box and attempting the back several times, I have decided to design the side next.

Firstly the side needed some sort of content to fill it.  I wanted to write something that spoke to the viewer as if it was in person. Using the word 'we' to describe the company makes it sound more humanistic than corporate. 'Small team' also reinforces the fact that it is a small group of people rather than a massive corporate company. The tone of voice suits the gentle illustrative style.

Searching through pictures of Dartmoor for visual inspiration I came across this castle which fits in perfectly with my design. By using a select few colours the viewer can see which direction the light is hitting the castle. I didn't want the design to be complicated as it needs to fit in with the rest of the flat design.

Using the front of the box I have been able to line up the moors so that they create an image once viewed together.

The path leads the viewers eye nicely into the middle. The type ending just before the castle means the viewers sight is guided across the page. 

BACK

Revisiting the back of the box has been tricky as it has been a challenge to get the information to look good.

Vanessa suggested that I lowered the information and reused the logo. This seemed like a good enough place to start as any. The type is slightly unclear over the rolling hills. The change in colour behind makes the text hard to read.

Using the purple box again hasn't worked in this example.

Making the logo smaller has really helped the composition of the page. Changing the shape to a curved rectangle has really helped with the positioning of the type. The shape feels fuller and fits the page better, however it still doesn't sit quite right. Perhaps this is because if the logo or extra purple space.

Decreasing the shapes size hasn't helped at all. The text looks crammed and poorly placed. Curving the text outside of the shape works quite well, it is a good way of tying it all in together without over filling the text box.

Going back to my original idea of continuing the banner used on the front of the box is an element which could work best. However getting the type to look correct is a challenge.  

If the box is made to big the content looks stretched as the space around the logo looks too much almost like the logo is floating. The logo needs to be significantly smaller in comparison to the front so that they are clearly different. 

Positioning the box too high also looks odd, there is too much green on show at the bottom compared to the very crammed purple top half. 

This is the final version I have settled for. The hills have been altered so that there is more of a visible difference. The purple banner has been made slightly bigger but the text has been dragged to fit with a small margin either side. The text is spaced out appropriately; there is enough space between each paragraph so that it isn't crammed in. Yet they are close enough together to read well and not look too spacey.