Project 2: Candy Bar

For Project 2, we had to create candy bars based on a given name and ingredient. The reason for this (just an assumption of mine) is that we are tested on how to handle briefs that have strict requirements. Then we were given feedback in which the brief was slightly altered for us. These alterations ranged from not using a different colour to outright remaking the overall design which is sort of like how real-world work as a designer is like.

One bit of insight is a bit similar to the last assignment is that while getting feedback from friends can be good, it doesn’t compare to getting feedback from the ‘client’, which is the teacher in this case. Some people (me included) aren’t very vocal to begin with and are hesitant on getting feedback, which could either be because of fear regarding criticism or traits that someone who is introverted has. I was the latter, and it ties in with time management when it came to the project.

Time management was a big part of Project 2 for me. Because of the fact that I didn’t ask for feedback all that much aside from peers, I left it last minute and I didn’t know whether the changes I’ve made are on the right track. In this case it was the Illustration and how it didn't match the tone of the title and the colours, so I simply changed the face and the arm on the right of the peanut. Getting feedback every so often is very important, especially for this project because of all the other classes happening, I tend to not touch certain assignments in favour of other ones which are closer to completion or because an assignment is due earlier than others.

The first version of the illustration on the left doesn't match the candy bar at all. While the 2nd one on the right does; he's wacky, cute, goofy or however you'd describe him.

Another thing that I’ve come to realise is the importance of Smart Objects while using Photoshop as it opens up a new level of versatility with whatever you’re working with. I sometimes forget to make something a smart object when I know I’ll be working a lot on it. What led to this was me realising over time that the layers panel for my document was becoming so cluttered to the point where it started to take me minutes just to find a specific layer. When it comes down to it, Smart objects are just groups, but a lot more useful. Plus you can move any additional elements you may have added as well as not having to worry about clipping masks or things like levels or curves. It also helps a lot when it comes to organising layers.

As for what I would apply in the future, the biggest aspect of this project is definitely speaking up and getting feedback; not only from friends but I shouldn’t be afraid of getting feedback from a teacher/lecturer or in the farther future a client. For me at least, I used to find it intimidating but now I’m more open to criticism and also voice myself out a bit more. Similarly in Web Design with Dale, he mentioned when I was getting feedback for my coded website that I was noticeably quiet when it came to asking for feedback, and that was mainly because I didn’t want to rush him. But he did tell me that sometimes you need to be assertive with whatever it is you want to do and not just remain silent. It’s something I’ve started to work on as a person and as a designer.

Concept

Early on, I had already decided on a peanut character.

The feedback for my concept was to not use any orange or dark brown as I shouldn’t risk confusing it with Reese's. I was also told to stick to peanut butter colours only when indicating the ingredient, but make that stand out. Lastly, I was to make sure 'peanut butter' is second in the hierarchy. There was also the fact that the cartoon I drew in my concept looks too much like Pickle Rick from 'Rick and Morty'.

Title

The first thing we did was make a title for our candy bars. For me, I was assigned 'Scrumptious', with my ingredient being peanut butter. The first thought that went through my head was elegance and royalty.

For the title, I chose SignPainter as the typeface.

One of the things that I had troubles with is choosing a typeface as I don’t really use script style fonts, but I stumbled upon SignPainter which is a great looking font as it looks the part of elegance and royalty. The next problem was using [Path > Offset] on Illustrator for the outline as it’s somewhat intricate, so I can’t make it too big.

Rather than using Offset for the outline, I made the text thicker instead.

The colour palette I chose for pretty much the entire bar consists of purple, magenta and gold.

On Photoshop, I applied the outline stroke and the drop shadow is sized at 0 to make it look solid. The distance is at 72 so that it gives it that 3D effect and makes it pop out a bit more. I also added some curved lines for some highlights.

The finished title.

Afterwards, I applied a bright drop shadow, titled it upwards and chose a brighter shade of purple. The reason why I used a gold drop shadow is because I learned that emphasis should be on the title and ingredient, so it was suggested that I apply a drop shadow to make the title pop out amongst the other elements. I later apply this to the ingredient, the writing that says 'peanut butter chocolate bar' and also my illustration.

Image

For the image featured on the bar, I chose a chocolate bar but added my own illustrated peanut butter on it.

Firstly, I made a gooey curvy shape to emulate peanut butter.

Then I made a selection which is slightly smaller than the actual shape by using [Select > Modify > Contract].

I made sure that it was at 10 pixels so it's just the right size.

I made this selection so that I can apply a gradient to it, emulating the shine peanut butter has due to oiliness. I used a soft brush to shape the gradient into highlights that I need for it to emulate the oiliness.

How it looks at the end.

With some slight adjustments to colour, it then goes on the end of a halved chocolate bar.

Candy bar background

For the background, I placed a magenta + purple gradient and added a purple dot pattern.

The background for the candy bar wrapper.

Peanut butter illustrations

I also made peanut butter illustrations to further emphasise the ingredient and to also add more flair to the overall design.

Firstly, I made curved yellow shapes to emulate peanut butter. Then I used [Select > Modify > Contract] to give it a highlight by using a soft white brush. This is because peanut butter is oily. I also add extra highlights on a different layer by clipping the new layer on the highlight layer. Then I used Camera Raw Filter to add grain to it, much like how peanut butter is also grainy.

What it looks like in the end.

The peanut cartoon character

At the beginning for my concept, I already chose to have an illustration of a peanut character on my chocolate bar. This is mainly because it's also fun to do as I enjoy making illustrations.

My rough sketch of the peanut character looks a bit like a sassy queen with a bit of a personality.

But I later decided to just make the character look cute rather than anything extra. On Illustrator I made a base outline of all parts of the illustration using the pen tool roughly based off of my sketch. Then I used [Object > Live Paint > Make] and went over it with the Live Paint tool.