This project is to devise and apply a creative, open-ended, and systematic method of investigating some aspect of a physical site of my choosing. The emphasis of this project is on the rigorous use of methods, processes, and systems of investigation that produce a volume of critical findings rather a singular and polished outcome.
After the first tutorial, I intend to do an in-depth ovservation and investigation into the packaging of modern and traditional medicines for urticaria.
After the second tutorial, I started to experiment with reinventing the packaging, removing the trivial and leaving the graphic for a second design.
What’s working well?
- I have a close examination of the packaging that I’ve found in the Chinese medicine clinic. According to my new composition principles, I have a care for rebuilding/ redesigning them. In addition, I have paid much attention to the digital craft.
- The way I have removed the text and descriptive information, the expiry date are very interesting and give a new direction and focus to the beautiful and traditional graphic components. In addition, I have nicely executed my findings on bringing the boxes into the 3D space.
- My investigation into the elements of packaging artefacts and their representations is thorough and in-depth, and it is fascinating to visually dismantle the elements found in each design and reapply them to my own work – the designs I have produced are professional and people can imagine them alongside my visual references.
- I have reinvented the packaging by using the illustration of herbs as a centre, making the medicine easily accessible to people who do not understand Chinese.
- The way I have started with the Chinese herbs is very interesting because the packaging of these herbs is very distinctive and may use some traditional Chinese painting elements. And the small elements I have made are also very interesting.
What’s not working?
- What I have done looks like the intention is to redesign the packaging to improve its visual quality, which is different from observing and recording its existing visual qualities.
- It is interesting to see the packaging rendered in a digital 3D environment, but this actually changes the observation significantly. Now it seems to be about the representation of objects in digital space, and about how people interpret them without the context of their material production and their physical environment.
- I have not considered my design too much in the context of the actual Chinese medicine clinic I have investigated.
- The packaging design I have worked on is a very traditional design, somewhat similar to my visual reference (the packaging of the product itself).
- It may be interesting to conduct further experiments on my initial observations.
To develop this further…
- Keeping the packaging the same as it was, but removing all textual information so that I could find out the existing pattern of images use on a whole set of packaging.
- Trying the suggested approach to the packaging and then making at least 20 or 30 different packages to see patterns.
- Adding more context to these packagings and how they relate to each other.
- I should contextualise the actual Chinese medicine clinic and could try different ways of projecting the packaging design made into this space, such as VR, and thus see if it works.
- I have used two different approaches in reinventing the packaging – removing the text and redesigning the packaging. I should probably focus on one of them and develop it further.
- I should continue to experiment further to see how my designed elements could be implemented in my use of 3D space – what do these look like outside of the packaging?
- I should be thinking in terms of ongoing experimentation – what do the designed elements communicate alongside more experimental visual observations?
- Perhaps I could experiment with Chinese elements in a Western layout, which might create newer and more avant-garde elements.