Creative Problem

[Crazy8]

So I have a problem and I don't know if its a good one to have or not. All I know is I don't like it. I have so many ideas on how I want to package my soaps and I cant decide on one. One part of me thinks "come up with a label/design that is the same for all soaps and distinguishes you from other products no matter what "flavor" of soap you have in the package." A second part of me thinks to go with the first part of me but to change up maybe some element of the package to a different color to be of some relevance of what "flavor" of soap is in the package.

Oh but you think it would end there....oh no way. Then a third part of me says "Create a package designed solely around the "flavor" or "theme" of your soap. I do want to do a design/package that is unique to the standard methods in some way I guess. All of these are great ideas and my first run of designs for my labels/packaging totally look "designer" like. Now that does fit one facet of my personality but then I have another facet that is completely different. How do I create an "image" with all of this. I have so many design ideas I would love to do and yet want anyone who sees a product of mine to go "Oh hey that's C8".

I can't imagine that I would be the only one with this problem. Anyone with any help or advice on how to iron this out would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stakie]

You should be thinking that way. You want people to recognize your product and know it's yours! I like the third part but figure out your overall design!

Like, say your store logo has a purple stripe that distinguishes it. Well all of your labels should have that while all the packages distinguish the soaps?

I hope that helps and is not confusing.

 

[Crazy8]

Well it does a little bit. But man zeroing in and deciding what one thing to do and use just erks me.

 

[lisamaliga]

I know how you feel!
First off, will you be selling your soaps in a retail location? Will they be at a crafts fair? How will they be displayed?

Or will you be selling online only?

Next, start thinking like a customer. What catches your attention? Color coding soaps is always helpful, as a consumer I can appreciate that. Lavender=purple, tuberose=white, mango=orange, etc.

For me, an easy way was doing one label but changing the font and color for the name of the soap. For example, here's my Tempting Tangerine Overdrive soap http://www.everythingshea.com/temptingtangerinsoap.htm Orange colored font tho' I can't remember which font. I had purple font for lavender and used a simple Time New Roman [but always bold font!].

Also, you'll be limited by time and space. Only so much can be squeezed on a label--and soap is easier than lip balms! You only have so much time to label the soaps--an important consideration for when you have lots of orders to handle.

Hope this helps!

 

[Crazy8]

Well there is a local small town coffee shop where other people sell their wares so I thought about putting some up in there. I also think I may build a website (something I have done a few times for other people and companies) for selling the soap products too. I don't know for sure yet if I will do the craft fair thing or not. I may have to just attend a few and get a feel for whats happening and potential competition.

Well because of my manly soap ideas I may even be doing some packing that is "theme" based. Now I know that this may sound silly and a bit different especially considering that they are a bit different from my other soap ideas, but here are two of my ideas. The first one is a hunters soap. Its going to be blaze orange and have a green colored apple in the center of the bar. Its going to be using the "Apple Explosion" FO in that bar. I thought about doing a white box with a faded black and white woodsy scene with some deer to cover the whole box or something similar to that.

A second idea, this is where things get goofy, is to do a soap called "dragon" or "dragons blood". I'm thinking of doing a bar that is black with spots of red on the inside of the bar. The one element I'm not sure if I want to do, since Im trying to keep it manly, is to incorporate some gold mica on the tops of the bar in such a way that it looks like gold veins running down the top of the bar. Another thought about the top of the bar is to nix the mica and to make the top look like scales (dragon scales). But then as far as the packaging goes Im thinking a black box with a cool black dragon image and of course the required labeling.

I guess it seems like I will be doing some, if not most, of my soaps as some kind of theme or idea of what the soap is for and thus giving it a fitting MANLY name to go with it and some cool packaging that is also manly. I sometimes feel like I'm going to far with this and making it more complicated than it needs to be...lol

 

[savonierre]

making the soap is the easy part of this business. Go for the dragons blood soap, why not..Although if you scent it with dragons blood it will turn a dark brown so the red will not show up. Camo swirl soap works well for hunters soap too..

 

[Crazy8]

making the soap is the easy part of this business. Go for the dragons blood soap, why not..Although if you scent it with dragons blood it will turn a dark brown so the red will not show up. Camo swirl soap works well for hunters soap too..

Could I set aside a small amount of the soap, unscented, and colored red, to get around it turning brown or not be seen? So another words since I want to do black and red, could I do it so that the black (which will be the dominant color) is scented with dragons blood and that the red is not scented to avoid the issue with red not showing up?

 

[dagmar88]

Could I set aside a small amount of the soap, unscented, and colored red, to get around it turning brown or not be seen? So another words since I want to do black and red, could I do it so that the black (which will be the dominant color) is scented with dragons blood and that the red is not scented to avoid the issue with red not showing up?

Yes. It's often done with pink sugar scented soap. Brown with hot pink swirls. Or you could use a vanilla stabilizer.
There's loads of examples on Etsy. I love going there for inspiration!


http://www.etsy.com/search?search_s...od+soap&order=most_relevant&view_type=gallery



I keep the same lay-out for all my labels to keep the 'feel' the same and make them recognizable, but categorize them by scent group. So fruity, floral, manly, bakery etc. scent types all get the same design by each group. In a color that suits the particular soap.
Except for the specialty soaps, like the spa line and baby stuff. They just need something different.
That way you can use your creativity, while maintaining a uniform look.