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The Kelpie Dreamers

Week 9 - Weighing Up the Costs

Updated: Mar 30, 2021

The "Ootcuts" pilot sets were delivered and began to build with the magnets I had to hand. It showed the work behind bringing the pieces into a higher volume of production, and how this may impact the fluid process. Having ordered a laser-cut set to compare, shows how quickly these can be put together and achieving the more "unknown" fusion points. I then had a look into costing these up when laying the pieces out on the board for CNC and laser cutting. It was a nice task to try out and seemed to weigh up similarly and will need to be lowered to accommodate for mark-ups and additional costings, which is a bit of a stumbling block. From this, I had discussions and a look into other processes and finishes to speed up production, but this seems like it may in fact increase costings. Keeping it simple, approachable but cost-effective is the main aim, letting the Ootcuts become the people's accessible creative tool. Having feedback from Cara on the marketing side was a nice eye-opener as to how to take this onto the shelves, with everyone having positive chats about the Ootcuts journey themselves.

From last week's feedback, I developed the logo. I saw that the logo would need to be simplified so the label wasn't as crowded. I redesigned the label making sure that it could wrap around the jute bag. I feel that having a 4 x 30cm label would work well as it means we could print the labels easily on A4 sheets to save time and money on production. I was sent the Ootcut pilot set earlier in the week. Allowing people to try out the set and see how they interact with the pieces was great to see and gave us insight into how people feel with the packaging and the shapes together. Having a call with Cara from Scottish Canals helped us find more of a direction with how we should market and price up our work. The next steps are to see how we can cut the costs of production and lower the overall price of the product.

The Kelpie Dreamers

Week 8 - Feedback and Foiling

This week I experimented with creating a stamp made out of lino to make a textured background that could be used within the packaging. Watching the Packlane packaging talk I learned different aspects to focus on within the design process. The importance of finishings and how it can be used to add emphasis I experimented with using printing foils within my design. I feel this makes the label more eye catching and also links to the steel that is used to make The Kelpies. I wanted to make the packaging design similar to a tool kit layout but using funky frame illustrations to reference how The Kelpies is an art illustration almost creating a mini art gallery within the label. I feel this links with the idea that the customer will create their own art pieces. However I feel the frames I used need to have a clearer link to the product, I would also like to use a silver foil. I used a minimum colour palette that focuses on contrasting colours linking to the out cuts and shadows seen within The Kelpies.

For the week past it was down to user testing and seeing the reaction from a variety of ages, with the biggest critic being a 6-year-old! It was beautiful to see how positive people were towards the Ootcuts themselves, especially from those that initially had only witnessed them in cardboard prototype form. Ideas ranging from elephants to bridges to personal structures! From this it seemed beneficial to manufacture these in a thinner set to emulate the initial cardboard test. With people not noticing the difference between the sets themselves. The thickness doesn’t alter people’s creativity with the pieces. It seems that each part of the products structure, to the colouring to the unknown magnet placement intertwines and compliments itself in any thickness, which showed in weighing up the pros and cons (against each other, not the functionality or the aesthetic). Moving forward it seems that getting involved with manufacturers and seeing a smooth way of producing more pilot sets alongside the packaging developments brings the Ootcuts to a nice stage.

The Kelpie Dreamers

Week 7 - Oocuts Come to Life...

From this week I had a look back through photos gathered over the placement and tried to get a colour wash that would match up similarly to the kelpies skin, with many of them coming out with a blue tone reflecting the sky. Narrowing these down and testing these out on samples provided by Flux, allowed for a true representation of the colour on material, creating the same reflectance as the Beasts themselves. I was also in contact with FifeX who managed to produce a prototype set of the Ootcuts with the Birch Plywood that was suggested by both the manufacturers for further production. It was amazing to see them become a physical piece.

Going for the grey for the Ootcuts really takes the light well and allows the pieces to come to life in different settings, especially when taking them onsite and seeing them merge to the fabric of the area. Resorting back to the backstory, it was nice to try and create a stronger poetic narrative for the Ootcuts, which aligns itself with the packaging. Looking at it in a 3 stage process of (Origin - Realisation - Creation), which may need a slight tweak to the “fallin'”, to more of a cut or caught. Taking them onto location, you could see an interest surrounding the product. Which with trying them out again on users to see their perception and play with the updated prototypes will help solidify the product concept. In anticipation of production, we've also been looking into manufacturers and tried to create contacts.

Furthermore, I developed some sketches for logos. Experimenting with weight and kerning within fonts and what effect this may give. Using the shapes of the product I developed a geometric pattern using contrasting colours. Seeing if this could be displayed into a Kelpie mosaic this gave a nice effect however it was hard to see the details of The Kelpies. I then experimented with screen printing on jute to see if this may gave a rustic feel to the packaging. Instead of using a drawstring bag effect I placed magnets inside the bag so the packaging would follow the same language as the product.

Making a net of the packaging I experimented with using a gradient of grey shades that was colour matched with the product. I used more of a hand drawn effect with the illustrations and I felt this works with a contrast of the modern type. However I would like to try simplify the packaging and further develop the bag idea.