GEORGIA EARNSHAW
Budding Blossom
About
Budding Blossom has the mission to supply feminine sanitary products that appeal to girls (10-15) who are getting their first periods. We aim to design a brand identity that is youthful, fun and feminine to ensure that it has the potential to some bring joy and happiness to the week of a girl’s periods. We aim to reduce the negative and cynical stigma around periods through our design of bold, feminine packaging. We want girls and young women to feel empowered by, and confident and proud of, their womanhood rather than embracing feelings of embarrassment and insecurity.
Research
Feminine hygiene products are personal care products used by women. They are constructed of cotton fabrics and super absorbent polymers and plastics, which are impermeable to liquids. These products include sanitary pads, tampons and panty liners. Feminine sanitary products can be purchased from supermarkets, convenience and department stores, retail pharmacies and online.
Research has indicated that there is a long history of menstrual stigma across nearly all cultures, and these continue to manifest in today’s society. For girls, menstruation can be an overwhelming experience, and because of this, they are taught to manage their periods privately and discreetly.
As far as packaging goes, until recently, mensural product packaging has been stereotypically ‘girly’. Most packaging incorporates feminine colours and patterns; including flowers, swirls and butterflies. Recently, packaging has begun to become more sophisticated and minimalistic; mainly due to a push for organic products. Women are pleased with this gradual change in design, as it appears as a more elegant, sophisticated product that a woman would potentially be more pleased to use.
Research Summary
After conducting research into other brands and competitors, I came to realise that all of the brands I researched had particular aspects in common. They all incorporate abstract, bold patterns that appear to be messy hand drawn; as if a child or young person drew them. The patterns of all brands are prominently feminine, which can be determined through themes of flowers, rainbows and clouds. The colour palette is quite broad across all brands, however, there is also often a subtle contrast between pastel and warm tones.
This visual investigation has given a clear indication of the aesthetic that Budding Blossom should have. The feminine and youthful appeal of the bold patterns, such as flowers, would be a suitable look for Budding Blossom, as the brand’s products are feminine sanitary products, targeted towards young females who are beginning puberty and get their first period (an average age range of 10 - 15 years old).
Inspired by my research, Budding Blossom is visually going to incorporate:
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abstract flowers
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simple, large & bold icons
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a contrast of pastel and warm colours, mainly stereotypically feminine colours
Ideation
I find that an important part of designing a brand identity, is to sketch down any ideas that could potentially lead to further development. Once I have a range of vague ideas, I further develop the ideas that I believe have the most potential. Once a particular design direction has been selected, I begin the development of the logo.
Brand Logo
Budding Blossom is a company that aims to appeal as a youthful, fun, happy and feminine brand in an effort to form a connection with girls (10-15) who are beginning their transition into womanhood and are getting their first periods. In order to portray the brand in such a way, Budding Blossom’s logo involves a simplistic, hand drawn flower to make the brand appear as youthful and bold, and the brand name to make the products easily recognisable.
Colour: The colours of the main logo are a light pink and golden yellow. I wanted a colour that would directly relate to a blossom, which is pink. Not only does pink make sense in this way, but it is also a stereotypically feminine colour; and more so, a the stereotypical favourite colour of a girl/young woman. The pink shade is light to create a calming effect for girls.
Typography: The typography within the logo is an important element of the logo, as the name of Budding Blossom is important in ensuring consumer recognition of the brand. The type is tall and rounded to represent growth and development, and is in all capitals to create an aesthetic logo balance.
Logo Variations
There are three different variations of the Logo that consist of different colours. Each of these have a different purpose, as each are allocated to a different product; tampons, pads and panty liners.
Colour
I used warm tones for Budding Blossom’s brand identity. It is important to use colours that are calming and pleasant to look at, and colours that complement each other. The calmer a consumer feels when using products such as Budding Blossoms’, the better, as they will therefore enjoy their experience.
The colours are also quite neutral, meaning that they are suitable for all age groups. Budding Blossom wanted to step away from merely using stereotypically ‘girly’ colours through using colours that appear to be more mature. These colours include warm reds, blues and yellows. These warmer, ‘mature’ colours also represents girls’ transition into womanhood.
Typography
DK Lemon Yellow Sun Regular because it is tall and rounded typeface, which in this branding, represents growth and development. The uppercase style of this typeface balances the logo, and also represents boldness, strength and empowerment.
Roboto Slab compliments the title font. A serif slab font such as this are considered to look feminine and sophisticated.
Illustrations
The illustrations that the Budding Blossom brand is comprised of, are bold hand-drawn flowers. There are different illustrations for different packages, which have the same colours but just a different arrangement of flowers. The purpose of these bold illustrations is to represent female empowerment, and encourage girls/women not feel embarrassed by their periods in response to the negative stigma around periods, but that they would feel proud.
These illustrations have the potential to be used across a variety of different touchpoints to engage target audiences with the brand. This includes tote bags, prints and tee shirts.
Packaging
There are three different packages that have been designed for feminine sanitary products. These are the tampon, pad and panty liner boxes and packaging. On this spread is the tampon package design.