Amass: Initial Thoughts

Amass is a collaboration between myself and Lizzi Tyrer, to brand and produce packaging for a small company that produces and sells it's own cosmetics. We discussed the project in relation to our personal focuses, and talked about using production methods we have yet to try. Our mutual interest in branding and packaging for small businesses drew us to the conclusion that cosmetics would be an interesting subject to work with. We both talked about different concepts for the business, though we thought that using the theme of travel, and souvenirs would create an interesting brand identity. We both like the idea of evoking a feeling of eclecticism, and culture through the theme of travel, and so this led us to generate ideas for a name.

By looking at alternative words for collecting, and eclectic we came to 'Amass' which means: gather together or accumulate (a large amount or number of material or things) over a period of time. We felt this suited the overall concept, and wanted to build our project around this word. Both Lizzi and I then went onto discuss ideas for research leads, and raised the subject of hand rendering in packaging and branding. We like examples such as Anthropologie, which is a clothing and lifestyle retail outlet, and Free People, which sells clothing only. Both brands are very similar, and promote travel, culture, and eclecticism. They use lots of watercolour illustration and pattern design within their branding, and sell products by other companies that fit into the company ethos.

We enjoy drawing and painting by hand, and so we are eager to use these techniques within our work. We felt that this element would evoke the types of souvenirs that can be found when travelling, and research into ethnic prints would be beneficial. We would also like to explore using special production methods, and we would like to exploit the high quality product by using the special finishes such as spot varnishing, die cutting and blind embossing.  Due to the brand being a mid to high end artisan cosmetics company, quality packaging and point of sale, along with attention to detail.

The main focuses will be:

High quality packaging
Special finishes
Hand rendering
Strong concept 
Ecclectic feel
Emotive branding