For this project, I was assigned to research different styles in food labels and create an illustration to go on a product; I designed a beer label. My design consists of a lacey skull melting within a capsule. I was inspired by the 1920’s style of food labels. My color scheme is indigo, lavender, peach, and coral. I have practiced drawing different types of skulls over the past several months which influenced my design.
I started by sketching and test coloring the design traditionally and scanning it into the computer. I then traced over the sketch in Adobe Illustrator and adding solid color, background and the text required on a beer label. To apply the lace, I followed a tutorial on how to use texture mapping in Adobe Photoshop and then transferred it back into Illustrator. Most of the problems I encountered were because of the texture mapping and font. While actually applying the lace texture was fairly easy, it took multiple tries to edit the image between Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator and then transfer the skull back onto the label. I struggled to find a font for Skeletal Lace that had no problems being both downloaded and read clearly.
This project has made me more aware of the number of fonts used in product labels and how minor differences in font choice can change the feel of the label. I also learned that designers incorporate the color of the product they are selling in the packaging to connect and remind the consumer of what they are buying.
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