Character Design
The first session back in the creative suite was about Character Design, in this we were aimed to create our very own character to be featured on the back on cereal packaging. Once we had created the character of choice, we could then focus on what sort of look our cereal has, and what shall be the main feature. When creating out character we were given samples to look at, like that of Rice Krispies and other various cereal packages. We also looked online, at character design and had to study the form. Also we had to consider the brand for the cereal, and even the audience.
To start the process we worked on paper rather than going straight onto the computer, this was an idea that Jay told us about. We can quickly sketch our designs down on paper and then adjust them on the computer. These sketches can be quick and rough which was a good reason for doing it this way, as this isn't the entire final product. This was all about getting quick ideas down onto paper first.
This task was quite difficult, as at first I didn't really know which route to go down. I didn't know if I should create a human - life like figure but I decided not too, as I thought everyone would do that. In the end I created a dinosaur, I didn't particularly feel that I'm an excellent drawer, however I do believe that I'm okay at it. I started drawing many designs and characters and I finally liked my overall design.
On my first piece of paper I started drawings various characters as a way of experimentation. I began by drawing animal based creatures, like that foxes, mice, penguin.. etc. Overall I was really impressed with these little cute/kitsch drawings I just didn't particularly feel very "cereal" like. I couldn't think up of names or slogans to go with them either. I then created some manga, I used to draw these all the time going through high school, and I know that I'm not bad at drawing it. I then again decided that it wasn't really working well for me. In the end I settled on a dinosaur.
Our tutor, Jay showed us character design sheets online and then suggested that we create some of them to help visualise our work more clearly. Also, he stated that we try draw our characters at various angles and positions.
In the end with my dinosaur, I thought that it is childlike and looks very rough and rugged which I really liked. I liked how jagged the pieces of scale are on the back of the dinosaur going from its tail to its head.
Creating a Name:
After creating the character of my Dinosaur, I had a more generalised look of how my cereal would form and come together, so I then decided to think about naming the brand. As my character is a dinosaur I thought of names of that genre, I wanted a connection between the audience and that of the character. With that idea in mind I settled on 'Dinocrunch' - I liked this as it goes with the theme of cereal. I liked this, I thought that it was very sweet and had a sense of innocence too.
Layout:
For the start of the layout, I mainly focused on the front of the packaging as once you have the basic layout for the front, the 2 sides and the back will be easy to create.
I found it okay to create different layouts for the cereal packaging, however there is only a few reasonable ways to create a good layout for a packaging design for cereal. The key for creating this is: Good positioning and good layout! This is so that the cereal package looks well balanced and created.
For the front of the cereal package, you need space for the character, name and even a slogan. For my layout I made sure that I had all of this located on the front of the box. I also wanted to show what the cereal looks like too, this is show the audience (kids and adults) what the cereal looks like. Really, as a child you are really interested with the way the package looks like, however I think that for adults it's what's inside. I liked this and wanted to create that too.
Below are my images:
