This is my first initial production of the packaging design for IRN BRU 32. I’ve stuck with the same colour scheme, font and overall idea that I first planned when I was creating my flat plan and idea generation. Overall, I’m quite pleased with how my original plan turned out on a copy of the can, although there are some areas that could be tweaked to improve it – for instance a more readable font or warping the font so that it can be recognized easier for elements such as the title of the product. I really like the idea of the silhouettes as I think it is more muted and toned town than using real portrait images, the swirled eyes gives a subtle touch relating to the tagline “It will drive you crazy”.

I’ve included the same text, Bates Shower – in the majority of the product packaging for larger sections of text. Smaller sized text would require a more structured font for important sections that include information e.g. nutritional values and ingredients. I think Bates Shower works well with the “horror” theme but I am still in the early stages of the design and there is plenty of time to experiment which I may do in the future during this project. A minor issue I have encountered with the font is that it does not include a capitalized “I” character, therefore I can only use lower case which looks grammatically wrong on the packaging. My only option if I felt it was a necessity to change the lettering would be to warp and stretch the “I” to make it into a capital and erase the dot on top of a lower case “I”.

The colour scheme works well, I have worked with a block orange background and blue text, which is opposite to IRN-BRU’s traditional packaging. I like this as I feel it makes the packaging more unique to my individual tastes and represents the flavoring of the drink more than what using a higher blue ratio would. Problems I have encountered with the colour scheme is that it is often very hard to select a good shade of blue that is not too dramatic but works well against the orange. Working with such unique colour partners is a challenge but I am hoping to find new ways of adapting my ideas to this.

This is my second draft of my IRN-BRU packaging but this time I have used the smaller can to compare and constant how I could adapt font to a less amount of space. I have used a dripping-style font and enlarged it to stretch across the full side of the can, back and front. I’m not really as keen on this font as “Bates Shower” as I feel it does not work as well with the original theme and also can look cartoony and unprofessional against the metallic shades of the can.

There isn’t as much going on with this particular design, I have incorporated the same silhouette style but using zombie hands reaching up towards the title. Using an outer glow around the outline of the zombie hands allows them more of an impact against the darker blue gradient. It also, I think – gives the impression of the zombie handing glowing out of the ground and more of a gloomy vibe. “32” has been placed central in a hazard sign shape – I think I could of made this more apparent by adding in a thicker stroke similar to what you would see on signposts but I didn’t want to cram the “32” into a smaller size as it is one of the main features of the design.

I used the gradient of light blue to indigo to give more of a definition and texture to the can design rather than a block colour. I haven’t really incorporated orange into this design and the hazard sign has appeared more yellow-toned than a vivid orange. I much prefer orange overlapping blue as a colour pair as it appears much easier to read and understand. I feel this design could be tweaked and altered to be more around the horror theme, it is quite childish and doesn’t really fit my demographic correctly. Perhaps a more dramatic font would of worked better for the purpose.

This is my third and final design for IRN BRU. I have completely gone against my initial ideas of a “horror” theme and have gone for a traditional Scottish theme which is the birthplace of IRN-BRU. I have incorporated a piece of tartan fabric with a needle stuck through to look as if it has been pinned to the canvas. I’ve added in a drop shadow to give a three dimensional look against the background, same with the button, banner and pin. I like the way I have layered and set out my imagery on the packaging but feel it takes some recognition away from the title as the image ratio is much larger than the text. Maybe resizing the tartan patch to a smaller size would be more beneficial of making sure the logo is not lost and it can be easily recognized on a shop shelf.

The font I’ve used is called Mixed Stitch, I used this to fit in with the patchwork theme look as if the font has been sewn onto the canvas. I think this font is nice and simple but doesn’t rely give much of an impact considering it is the main focus of the can. I rotated the logo vertically and placed “32” horizontally above, the alignment of the font works well with giving equal importance of both segments of text but I think I could of highlighted “32” more, perhaps adding an outer glow would bring the numbering out more against the deep gray. Using a texture background doesn’t work in my favor as much when using smaller black font such as the ingredients or information, I have had to include a white shape behind certain elements so that they are visible against the background.

I’ve included a different slogan to the one I was previously using, I have used “Brings You Home” in a traditional Celtic font. This is in relation to old age Scottish history, there is no real significant meaning to the use of the banner and the font but I thought visually it fitted in well with the overall theme. I could of improved the overall appeal of the theme of the packaging by include other miscellaneous objects to do with Scotland such as the flag etc.