OUGD503 - Pitch A Papergang - Final Designs

The final design for this competition brief uses ideas based on research into how the company Ohh Deer brand themselves and their Papergang subscription service. The brand is described as 'quirky, illustrated gifts for illustrated people' and so takes on more handmade aesthetics to communicate this.

The main choice of imagery uses objects which would typically be associated with the idea of Halloween, such as ghosts, pumpkins and bats in order to convey a seasonal theme appropriate to the month the box would be released in. This imagery was produced initially using handdrawn illustrations which were then digitally modified using illustrator to give the objects a more ‘graphical’ look about them which makes them stand out against the background colours more.

The first product which was designed for was the box itself. Taking inspiration from research into previously designed boxes, it was decided to take a more minimalistic approach using a bold, solid coloured background with smaller illustrations dotted around the surface in a more ‘care-free’ format to represent the quirkiness of the brand that is Ohh Deer. Through the use of object illustrations, the design aims to communicate the theme of October (particularly, Halloween) as a whole in contrast to the contents of the box which uses such imagery individually for different products. This aims to give the audience and consumer an idea of what they would expect to find on the inside of the box, linking all designs together in their aesthetics.

This same piece of artwork, however was also used in the production of the deskpad with only a small change being the colour of the background. This was modified to be a subtler colour which would was thought to work more appropriately for this kind of product, since consumers would be writing on the pad, allowing them to use any coloured pen and the information to not be compromised.

The design for this deskpad also makes use of small elements of type to split the pad into different sections. Based on research into existing deskpads sold on their site, all of these follow the same format in that it has sections for weekly planning, notes, doodles and to do lists. It was decided to stick with this format in order to present something which could sit well within a group of these on their website and gives the design an element which consumers and the brand itself would already be familiar with.

The type used for this and throughout other product designs within this entry continue to play on the halloween theme, with the thin strokes and pointed ends conveying a harsher tone.
This typeface was also chosen in relation to it’s other quirky aesthetics in that not all letterforms are uniformed and vary in stroke width. Although digitial, this gives the typeface a more handwritten design which has apparent links to the characterisics of the existing Ohh Deer logo.

The greetings card takes inspiration from research into illustrators who have already collaborated with the company. The design features a bat, paired with the chosen type, reading ‘Let’s get freaky’. This was done since it was found the brand look for products which seem slightly daring in nature, or present a humerous or rude use of slogans to match the imagery. In doing so, it was hoping this would therefore appeal to the more mature members of the audience, producing something which could also potentially be relatable.

Since research found that the brand have an attraction towards pattern, the wrapping paper made use of a tesselation of ghosts, something which could be seen as unique to this format.

The pin badge design uses a singular ghost image from this. It was considered that the pin badge would be something which people may wear everyday therefore it was thought this should be fun and quirky. The design for this takes another minimalistic approach, and was inspired by the humerous way in which some people dress as ghosts wrapped in white sheets which drape over their body in a way visualised within the pin. This links back to the fun and humerous elements of design the company are typically seem to appeal to the company.

((Image is only blurry because this is how the company designed the template))

The coaster design uses a play on imagery through using a witches cauldron or brew to represent the idea of a brew (of tea or coffee) which would be placed onto this mat. This was done to present something appropriate to the product whilst continuing to link all products to the same theme and give it’s design another element of fun.

A consistent colour scheme was used throughout these designs to clearly represent the products as one themed package. The use of paler pinks was chosen in order to make the illustrations pop from the backgrounds and make the products more fun and colourful in nature.