Intially my Colour Branding range was going to be named 'Rainbox', playing on both the link to the range of brightly coloured paper samples and also the packaging it would come in.

These first few attempts (Up) had a certain consistency throughout. After trying a variety fonts, and weights I didn't see a commercial opening.

My second batch of attempts followed a concept of colour drops filling up the box in a glass sort of way. Upon reflection however it seems that the logo / icon looks to be too technical and gives off a printer vibe (which is relivant yet) not aesthetically what I was looking for.

To simplify the previous take on the logo I merged the layers of colour and the droplet to create more of a modern twist. I wasn't keen on just having the droplet on its own so I tried containing it with the 'box' element. This also felt to much like an technical icon rather than a logo.

The only way I felt comfortable with displaying the droplet logo out of a box was to put it within type and use a logo type for the brand identity. The example shown above lacks an impact and I feel that is down to the font. The rough box concept was a failed attempt at a colour box logo.

As my 'Rainbox' attempts were going nowhere I decided to go back to the drawing board. My aim second time around was to come up with a logo that still brought together both the product and packaging.

I took the box concept from my initial idea and came up with a logo that had a mixture of key elements like: Minimal look, clever illusion and visual impact. 

My result is stated above. 'Yentra' was the new name for my colour collection (This was taken from the word 'yantra' which means a productive system/getting results). The 'Y' is stood out with three colour bars and also acts as the corners to the box, in addition the 'Y' its self looks to be contained in a hexagon which is the primary look I wanted, the box illusion is hopefully going to be a secondary take on viewers that will hopefully see the logo as clever branding.

The Typeface used needed to be slick, modern and eye-catching, that is why I used the Cyber Times typeface which I spotted on a film poster. The font itself isn't free to download so I had to select the relivant letters and create them in Adobe Illustrator.

 

My process is shown below:

My Yentra brand needed a tagline so I came up with 'Fuller Colour' as it expresses the vibrant nature of the collection. My varients consisted of three attempts. In the end I went for the third option down as it was a compramise of the two above (which both had flaws). The first didn't really stand out whilst the second had impact due to the colour however the shadow effect presented legibilty issues. 

For a strong brand identity I had to combine both my logo and type. This first draught I did felt like I was on the right lines in terms of layout. Centred.

 

On this first example I have 'YENTRA' in a silver so not to take focus from the logo and then a further hierarchy shift with the 'Collection' being an even lesser silver. Whilst it achieves hierarchy i'm not sure I like it as an aesthetic, the two different shades look too much.

For this second example I tried underlining the 'YENTRA' for that hierarchy, however I then ran into the same problem.

My last example shows the hexagon also in silver to bring everything together that little more, for me this subtracts from the logos impact of the black.

What I plan to have in the colour sample brand: 'Yentra'

- Overall Box Container

- A5 Fold out information pack

-Yentra presentation CD containing the colour samples that compliment eachother

-Snug, typographical colour sample book

This box Mock Up shows a fairly accurate aesthetic of the packaging for my Yentra Collection. The corners consist of the three colour bars making the 'Y'. This hopefully re-enforces the branding further.

The main content of the box willl be the product information, this will come in the form of an A5 fold out manual. This sketch gives a rough idea of content. The top right corner shows the plans I have for introducing an acetate sheet with some form of typographical message which could be taken out.

I made a mock up by attatching together two a4 sheets. This front cover has plans of cutting and layering which i'm currently not 100% sure of.

This is an extention of the die-cutting concept for the front cover. The practicality at this point is still blurrey.

As it opens up I plan to show a full colour image gate to set the tone of the booklet.

This shows both the full layout in and out. The centre pages will hopefully consist of a reference sheet with in a pouch plus the rows of colour card samples. By getting different mediums and pouches coming of the printed stock I will hopefully create an interactive experience for the viewing. The acetate removal will also add to that.

This is a digital mock-up of the A5 fold out manual. (Still not 100% accurate to what the final outcome will be.)

Whilst these product information layouts seem technical, the typographical layout is smart and would work well within the manual. I have decied to go with the secondary option (just above) as it works in both an aesthetic and practical way.

I hope to include a CD that holds digital/complimentary relationships between the Yentra colour range.

 

Above shows the two cover options. The first is a simple logo only marque that looka minimal yet effective. The second option displays a wallpapered design that is querky yet too much in my opinion. I feel the first option will do its job well.

This is the reference sheet I created to sit with in the pouch. The colours will be cut out from the sheets and stuck to the reference sheet, so to give a physical texture and gsm. All of the colours displayed are the actual colours for an authentic product feel. The number reference above each swatch is simply aesthetic.

 

I wanted to get an authentic touch and feel for the card samples and so I put in my order of card samples in to GFSmith. Once I had my brightly coloured selection of card, I measured what dimension I would need to cut to fit nicely into the A5 area.

Once I had a ruler length/width template, I scalpled out the panel and measured down the centre so the same amount of card will be showing on face value.

I had two attempts at putting the sample panels together... Different materials were used for both.

The first attempt (Right) was put together with glue. The outcome was messy, tacky and the measurements wern't to spec. However my second attempt (Left) was put together with double-sided tape. This meant the construction was clean, measured correctly and had enough excess for trimming down to the specific size required.

I thought a nice touch for the box  would be if the three primary colours from the logo were used as an inside panel to the lid, therefore when the viewer removes the lid they aren't going to see a plain white inside that looks as if no though has gone in to it. With there being only three colours in use I found that the fourth wall would benefit from the GFSmith logo. In person I am aware that the box's decoration is mildly amatuer in quality as the materials have been placed on top of the box itself, however when it comes to photographing the box for my website presentation shots, I am confident that the whole thing will look manufactured and professional. This applies to the whole project, the standard will improve ten-fold when I have implamented my photoshop skills.

I measured the swatch rectangles that I had printed on the sheet, then I marked (using a pencil) a replica rectangle of 1.3 x 2cm which I then cut out using a guillotine.

 

I then used double-sided tape to put on the back of the rectangle.

To get the card swatch to allign perfectly with the rectangle on the paper I used a combination of rulers (to create a right angle for the card to push up against) and tweasers to place the card, this helped with keeping the paper white and lowered the chance of dirt marks cause by my fingers. To secure the rulers I had someone hold them in place until the swatch was placed correctly.

I had printed and cut down the 9x9 face, I stuck down the paper on to the top of the lid using double sided tape

When it came to the A5 fold out, I had printed the front only (due to the fact that the roller printer at the print room was unable to print double sided). The card I had printed on was thicker than i though and so when it came to folding the whole thing the folds were bowed and very hard to keep flat packed, to counter this problem I had to fold the creases with my nail (on top of a layer of paper, so not to pick up ink) to get the sharpest fold, along with trimming a millimetere of the full colour image gate either side. This meant I could get the booklet to close without spring back into its natural position.

At this point I had all the components for the inside, again due to the double sided issue it meant that I had to stick a seperate layer of card on each a5 panel meaning the thickness of the booklet vastly increased.

For CD and memory stick within the box I needed a placeholder structure, for this I thought foam would be ideal. My plan for the foam is that it will we thick enough to embed the items. To give as much attention to detail as possible I will layer the foam from the Yentra Collection brand colours, this way it will look blue from the top and then multicoloured when an item is taken from its place. This show be both practical and aesthetically pleasing.