PACKAGING DESIGN | USEFUL PACKAGING | TRAVEL KIT
From throw-away packaging to repeat brand visibility.
CLIENT
ACE Combs
PROJECT SCOPE
Packaging Design
INITIAL DIELINE CONCEPTING SKETCHES
PRINT TESTS TO GET THE DESIRED SHADE OF BLUE
MISSION/CHALLENGE
ACE Combs have been around for well over 150 years. This unbreakable comb brand is such a household name that they don't even have their own website. The challenge for this project was to take a three pack of randomly assigned combs and create a packaging design for them.
OUTCOME
I repurposed an existing travel bag, sourced TSA-approved toiletries, and turned what is usually a tossed piece of garbage into a useful, reusable item. I created a physical prototype, featuring cut vinyl branded toiletry bottles, and used the company's own retro designs to tie the whole thing together.
AWARDS/RECOGNITION
The physical prototype is on display at MATC. Making the display case is a huge honor, and sets a standard for upcoming student designers to look up to.
DESIGN APPROACH
MY GOALS FOR THIS PROJECT:
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Sustainable/reusable packaging
I'm not designing a package for the garbage. I wanted this to be useful. It's a three pack of combs, let's give the customer somewhere to store them.
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Repeat brand visibility
BRAND EVERYTHING. Sure, you might only use it when you travel, or stash it in a drawer, but when you see it, you're getting the ACE logo everywhere.
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Nod to the company's history
This company's got some great branding and color usage in previous iterations. Let's lean on that for an instant pop of nostalgia. This is why you buy ACE combs and not some generic brand.
LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS OLD SCHOOL BRANDING
PROTOTYPING
LET'S GET TO WORK
Once I'd sourced both the toiletry bag and the travel containers, it was a matter of combining them with the combs in a way that made sense.
I got to work on the physical dieline prototype, experimenting with shapes and bottle size layouts until I found what worked.
DIELINE SKETCHES
After physical proof of concept was complete, it was a matter of deciding on design and sketching out the concept.
A lot of times when designing, I'll start with a basic pencil or pen sketch on paper, but I tend to move to color work pretty quickly, since that really gives a great picture of whether a look and feel will work or needs to be adapted.
This is where an iPad, Apple Pencil, and the Procreate app really come in handy.
ADJUSTMENTS AFTER FEEDBACK
Initial feedback brought up the idea of changing the zipper pull on the actual product to reflect the brand, so I cut a vegan leather "spade" shape and replaced the existing zipper pull on the prototype.
FINAL PRODUCT
DIELINES
