Tone and Color

Here are some packaging containers for a natural beauty company that I found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/14443796@N08/2092756289/. The containers consist of vibrant colors, consisting of fuchsia, purple, aqua, brown and beige that makes the packaging pop out to the viewers. The colors of the boxes are offset by fluid lines that create designs of foliage, situated on the left hand side, several in their complementary color. The fuchsia is complemented with a lime green, the purple is complemented with a teal blue, the aqua with a green image and etc. The complementary colors are a good idea because it creates a harmonious looking box without overshadowing the image and the contrast helps draws the eye to the design. The design is repeated adjacent to the original design, only this time the colors are in a slightly lower tone than the original box color. The softer tones creates additional visual interest and adds a sense a textual element to the otherwise simple packaging.
The text is placed in a square white box. The text size is very small so placing in front of a white background allows it to to be readable despite the tiny size. The light background also helps distinguish between the text from the box.

Basic Elements: Line, texture and Movement

Line:
Here an illustration from one of my favorite metal smith, Abigail Percy. With many, if not all of her jewelry pieces, she likes to make an drawing of an intended piece such as this illustration of 3 ginkgo leaves. The lines are simple and moving in one continuous upward direction that creates an illusion of volume. There is no sense of hesitation with this image as depicted in the strong, steady and fluidity of the lines. The soft lines of the top of the ginkgo leaves is contrasted by the darker lines that constructs the stems of the leaves. The juxtaposition of the light and dark lines also creates a sense of depth for the leaves. Another contrast is the difference between the curve of the top of the leaves in comparison to the straightness of the stem.


Texture:
Here is a the completed ginkgo necklace, by the same artist. The necklace compose of a sawed cut out of a ginkgo leaf. The texture is a created cross hatch design made by placing the metal in a rolling mill. The cross hatch is not very deep, just slightly etched on the surface which creates a matte sheen and creates a uniform bumpiness to the piece. The slight ridges is a good contrast to the five soft polish pearl. The pearls are smooth with rounded edges which gives off a mirror or reflective quality.


Movement:
Here is an inspirational picture of a relief carving on a Paris building that is yet to become a jewelry piece from the previous metal smith, Abigail Percy. This carving is a great example of movement. This images is not static like the two other example. It consist of four leaves that are connected at a base with three of the larger leaves climbing upward of the building. The smaller leaf cascade downward and eventually joins with additional leaves and flowers. The tips of the leaves on this carving curls to the right, the left and in every direction creating a wave like motion.

Good and Bad use of Syntactical guidelines

The above pictures are different Tropicana juice containers taken from www.thedieline.com. The first image is an example of the most recent container and an example of poor use of the Syntactical guideline. The container uses three main colors, orange, green and white. It is a very boring design and lacks packaging appeal due to the flatness of the design and text. The Tropicana logo consist of green lettering placed on the top right hand corner which is to create stress and focus to the name brand of the product. Although, with the logo being in a vertical stance it makes it harder to read. It reads from the bottom to the top of the container.
A glass containing orange juice is place next to the logo, with only half of the glass visible on the front with the other half on the side. To see the complete image of the glass of orange juice the container has to be angled as depicted in this picture. It would've been more appealing and balanced if the image was placed in the center.
What is in the center is the text stating that the Tropicana's juice contains 100% juice. Despite the use of white text for the 100% juice, the flatness of the text and the image blends together creating no real distinction. In fact the whole container is flat, lack contrast and depth.The only thing that has any dimension is the container screw top shaped like an orange.

A good container design would be the original Tropicana design, the second container. There is a good balance with this container. The brand, image of the orange and the additional text are perfectly lined up in the middle. To offset this balance, a straw is position in the orange as to indicate to buyers that this orange is so natural it's like drinking straight from the orange. The orange image is natural and realistic with the right balance of light and shadow placed on it. This feels more natural than the first container, which feels a little stark. The use of the round, soft edge orange is, also, good to play off the angular rectangle shape of the container. The Tropicana logo varies in color from a evergreen to a dark forest green which is good to create some depth and distinction from the rest of the text, placed underneath and on the bottom of the container