03. packaging

This project was really difficult for me.  I struggled a lot with an idea.  I'm 95% sure the reason I struggled was because I just got stuck, and any idea but the one I had originally thought up seemed wrong.  I started off wanting to use the face I had designed for the branding project, but the fact that she had a turban made it seem like the product was more targeted towards a specific culture, as opposed to being targeted towards anyone who uses stage makeup.

I played with the idea of using a booklet for the eyeshadow:

But I didn't have a reason for the shape and I didn't like the layout (the zebra print served no purpose -- it was simply the paper I used).

From there I thought of different types of boxes I could use.  I thought of origami and how some boxes all come out of one sheet of paper and how I like that idea.  So I began to play with origami:

But then...why?  Why was I using a boxy shape for a feather-themed object?  It didn't make sense.  Which is how my idea slowly developed into creating a box in the shape of a peacock feather.  The interior holds the eyeshadow in the shape of the feather -- it mimics the outside.

This above was my first study model.  I cut out the shape of the feather from a black matte board and put a mirror inside.  The mirror I eventually moved to the inside of the top lid.

Above is what I used to hold the top lid to my base in my final project

This is the top lid with the lace attached and the mirror on the inside.

This is what the exterior of my final looked like.  I put a real peacock feather on the outside -- the shape matches up perfectly.  I'm really happy with it.

This is the interior of the box.  That's three different color eyeshadows in there.  The green and the brown were old eyeshadows I never used that I took out of their original case and put inside.  In order to make the blue eyeshadow I ground up blue pastels (it took nearly half an hour!) into a fine powder that mimicked eyeshadow.  I had to put a very thick layer of glue into each section, let it dry (I allowed it to dry overnight) and then the next morning I put in a tiny bit more glue and slowly and carefully put each color in its proper place.

This is what my living room floor looked like.  It was quite a mess.

Overall, I am very happy with my project.  It took a very long time and I think it really is beautiful.  I wish my craft were cleaner.  I've never really used materials like this before, so it has been a learning process.  Were I to have done it one more time I feel it might have been better, but I really am happy with how it came out.