Perfume Bottle Designs

Whilst designing the perfumes, I considered the patterns I designed at the beginning of the project. It influenced the way I designed the bottles and I had come up with a final 4. Two of which I feel do not really suit to the brand as the bottle shape is too intricate. Although I really like the bottle I also understand the importance of it being suitable to the brand and therfore may choose the simpler designs as my final piece. As you can see below I have added leaf engraving to bottle lids, leaf shaped pieces and even branch like pipe that is kept inside the bottle which I am really fond of. Looking back at the designs I did, I would most probably not do overcomplicated bottle shapes.

Inspiration - Perfume Ads + Packaging

For my research on bottles and perfume ads, I wanted to not use the internet therefore I flicked through Stylist and Vogue magazines. The reason as to why I chose these particular magazines is because their readers fits the target market for my perfume being young and fashion conscious. The ones I had picked out were very interesting as they all varied in terms of their shape, colour and size. It was interesting and gave me brief ideas to have in mind when I design my bottlefor e.g. have small details like engravings on bottle etc.

However, in terms of the packaging, I found my research to be extremely useful. This was because I was unaware of the content that is required or usually on packages and the layout especially. It gave a clear ideas on how I wanted my package to be. I know that I want my pattern incorporated into the bottle and package therefore I looked into packages that are heavily patterned and just see how the layout, content, size and colour is etc. The Flora Gucci bottle gave me the idea of adding a border which I am currently thinking about.

H&M current sprays (Research)

Now that I am sure of what I hope to achieve as my final outcome, I can research things that are relevant to my final piece. However, before I research into perfumes and their advertisemnents I feel its important to research how H&M have designed their current sprays and perfumes. This is so when it comes to designing the perfume, it fits rights with the brand. What I have come to learn about their perfume designs is that the bottle shape is pretty simple and can include some pattern. At this point, I am thinking of including the patterns I designed at the beginning of this project as I feel it would suit. This is definately something I will consider when designing the bottle etc.

Mindmap - New Product Launch

Before I go any further with the project, I need my ideas down on paper. The best way to do this was through a mindmap. I wanted to go through the 4p's. Product, Place, Promotion and Price. This was so I have a clear idea on the product before I go on to how I will promote it.

H&M

Having researched a number of eco friendly brands I have come across H&M and decided that I want to choose it as the brand I work with. This was mostly because having researched them thoroughly, I realised I like their business ethics and their morals etc. For e.g. they've set themselves the challenge of making fashion sustainable and sustainability fashionable. They have a collection called Conscious Collection that includes pieces made from organic cotton and leather. They have also not used fur in their products for years and do not test on animals. Moreover, they try to incorporate Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in every way that they can. I do feel like I made the right choice when it comes to choosing a brand and would not choose another if I were to do it again. Initially, I had the idea of designing a perfume and at this point I am excited for this collaboration with H&M however, I feel I need to do more research on H&M before I think of the final outcome.

Conscious Collection 2014

More Research..Different Sources

I've come to the point in the project where I feel like I need more research to get a better understanding of my project. Therefore, I went to the Rave Library and looked into a few books and in particular:


Black, Sandy (2012) The Sustainable Fashion Handbook, Thames & Hudson.
 &

Fletcher, Kate (2008) Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys, Earthscan.

 
These books have proven to be invaulabe as they gave me a greater insight to sustainable fashion. It even included a number of artists that are environemntally friendly and it gave me a brief idea of which brand I want to work with. Examples of artists were Vivienne Westwood, EDUN, Stella Mccartney and Christopher Raeburn etc. I've learnt that each artist is environmentally friendly through their brand for e.g. Christopher Raeburn is known for his re-appropriation of military fabrics and in particular for iconic outerwear created from de-commissioned PARACHUTES. So, he uses old clothes to create something new like Gary Harvey. Moreover, I learnt that artists like Stella Mccartney does not use real leather or furs in any of her products and even EDUN who produces all his clothes in Africa to provide the local people with jobs. I have come to the conclusion that sustainable fashion is not just about using faux fur, or recycled clothes but it can also be that workers in developing countries have a job and a fair income.

Designs I could potentially use

Before I go off to do more research, I wanted to complete what I was doing prior to my group interview which was getting all the designs and shapes I had extracted from my research and making patterns out of them. I was really excited to do this as it meant using Photoshop again and I had not used it for a while. Before I started this course I rarely used Photoshop and disliked it as I thought it was confusing but now that I have used it several times over this course, I have learnt that I do like it and learnt quite a few techniques that can be used to produce a strong image. So, to create these designs I played around with the contrast settings, invert the colours, added textured backgrounds played around with scale, colour and also the curve settings. I feel like I did create some really strong images that can potentially be used in my work later on. However, if I were to do it again I probably would play around with the scale and colour a bit more.