Tristen Gonzalez

Prof. Trofimova

COMD 3503

Wed 6-8:30pm

Assignment # 2

        There are many career paths in the world of design today. Some of them are dying out while others are continuing to evolve. However we pick the fields that we enjoy the most and that suits are creative talents. These career paths include Advertising design, branding, web designer, illustrator, editorial designer, package designer and so much more. As I look at my portfolio the kind of designer I am would be a package designer and editorial designer, but I enjoy package design so much more.

        In my portfolio I have more package and editorial than any other category of design in my portfolio simply because I enjoy it a lot. Package design most likely peaked my interest at the start because I use to love to build and put things together with my hands. Whether as a kid it was building objects with Lego blocks or making ships and structures out of cardboard, these were things I loved doing when I was younger and I guess it translated well with the process of putting a package together. Seeing the final product of what you design actually come to life gives an immense satisfaction more than any other type of design category.  However that’s only the brief why I got into it.

        Designing for a package brings interesting set of unique challenges sort of similar to branding, which is another thing I also love. The interesting challenges with packaging is that you need to find a way to give your package shelf presence. Meaning making it stand out compared to all your competitors packages so that way the consumer will more likely choose your product over the competitors because your product appeals and speaks to them more. And just like in branding you are either tasked with coming up with a new logo and color palette or you’re entirely redesigning an existing logo to modernize and be competitive with other companies. In both cases you are pumping life into the brand making your product more noticeable.

        The two packaging projects that I have in my portfolio are called Heartland Coffee and Elementare Martini. Both projects were entirely made up brands from scratch that I created. From creating new brands I had the freedom to try new and unique ways of making my package stand out. For Heartland coffee I completely went with an unorthodox color palette approach for coffee. Most coffee brands stick to whites and hues of browns, what I choose with my brand were bright vibrant colors to appeal to a younger audience and to make it contrast against all the other colors in the aisle. And as for Elementare Martini I decided to go with a unique cylinder bottle shape for my package that goes against the normal look for a alcoholic beverage.

        In conclusion, out of all the design categories in the world of design, I consider myself to be a package designer. Package design is a field that is continuing to grow and there are always new looks to try and more unique approaches you can take with this path. As well as there will always be a need for package designers as long as consumers continue to buy products.