With this week’s Sirius-XM
merger approval, we take a nostalgic look back at our XM packaging experience.

About the Project

Packaging is a part of modern life. This article, an insight into the design of a consumer package for satellite radio provider XM, includes many aspects of a typical package development process. In the interest of time, we’ll skip research, diagnostic and technical methodology phases and concentrate on the basic iterative process steps in this article.

Contracted as a co-branded piece with equipment manufacturer, Delphi, the XM package is designed to contain a variety of product configurations while meeting the requirements of multiple retailers.

Thumbnails
(above: click for larger view)

The first stage of the package design process is broad idea generation with an eye toward reasonable possibility through the use of quick sketches called thumbnails—essentially a Brainstorm session on paper.

Even in this early ideation phase, function and manufacturing objectives established in earlier logistic explorations are at the forefront of the design rationale.

A plump and friendly ovate design—suitable for both pegged and stand-alone shelf display—captured the team’s attention. It features an interchangeable outer shroud designed to accommodate variable messaging and XM product differentiation.

Rough Refinements
(above: click for larger view)

Of the 32 initial thumbnails, five are selected for tighter “rough�? conceptual sketches. The rough design stage serves several purposes. Roughs allow the customer to collaborate in a conceptual dialog with both Brainstorm and their own internal team.

In addition, roughs allow the design team to further reconcile a host of issues—from substrate selection to detail and aesthetic considerations. Increasingly the form is discussed with a heightened sensitivity to relative manufacturing requirements and capabilities.

Although computer-generated designs are great for visualization, introducing them too early in the development process can consume allotted resources and generate fewer options. Furthermore, their finished look can ignite concerns about exhausting budgets without the benefit of conceptual buy-in.

Design Control Drawings (DCD)
(above: click for larger view)

DCD drawings are to final fit and finish what roughs are to concepts. In this case, the forms are expressed as orthographic projections, i.e., front, right side and plan (top) views.

The primary intent of this phase is to convey relative proportions and relationships between forms within the package, i.e., to “control�? the design. A rough and wispy hand drawn line could mean anything to a packaging engineer. Conversely, detailed and dimensioned schematics begin to define a working reality.

Of course, many issues were addressed during the XM DCD phase: Drop test considerations, proper cavity allowance for nested accessories, marrying the outer shroud with the stand-alone clamshell, substrate selection and opacity levels, inherent multi-part clamshell tooling considerations, etc.

Rapid Prototyped 3D Model
(above)

Project participants hailed from several continents. So, to help bridge geographic and language-based barriers, we produced a quick 3D model based on data and dimensioning extrapolated from the vector-based DCD drawings. The model proved a useful discussion tool in describing general functions of the package.

Aesthetic and Messaging
(above: click for more initial design examples)

Although this article primarily explores the physical form development of a package, the aesthetic process is important enough to warrant an article of its own.

Some aspects of messaging development begin as early as the thumbnail stage. However, on many levels, full graphic exploration doesn’t begin until a form factor direction is set. At retail, messaging and brand continuity are crucial.

A Finished Package
(above: click for larger view)

Although concessions were made along the way, the completed two-part package is remarkably similar to the original concept design in form and function.

Click here for more about Brainstorm.

Drawing Warmth
from the Cold of Concrete

Envisioneers

Transparent House, a San Francisco-based 3D design and visualization studio, allows clients to visually model end products long before committing them to finished processes.

Often, clients know what they want but can’t really envision it, much less articulate that vision to a vendor. The real value-add of Transparent House is not in delivering finished goods but in delivering that articulated vision.

And so it is with their variation on the concrete slab, transforming a cold commodity into warmth and art.

Inventive Allusion

Transparent House didn’t invent nor do they provide concrete etching. Their end product—three-dimensional modeling—allows them to package such concepts as something new and valuable. It helps customers envision new possibilities and unexpected applications through the illusion of reality.

Now that’s resourceful and inventive use of available marketing resources. A core benefit lesson for any brand marketer.

[via: Designspotter]

Kevin Cornell’s “Manda” | 2007©, Gouache on 300 lb. Cold Press

About the Interview

Yesterday we featured a fascinating website called, The Superest where A List Apart’s illustrator/designer Kevin Cornell wages an illustrious and ongoing battle of super heroic one-upmanship with animator/designer Matthew Sutter.

Kevin Cornell took time out of his busy schedule to talk to .think about The Superest site and his life as an illustrator.

.think | 1. What initially inspired you to create The Superest site?

Kevin Cornell: Well, Matt and I had come across Andy Haven’s post about the game “My Team, Your Team.” The game sounded really interesting, so we played it a couple of times. One particular game we posted to our websites; after which we realized it would probably be a fun site all its own, and a good proportion of other people agreed. So a couple months later we built The Superest site, and there ya go.

.think | 2. Although you and Matthew generally handle the majority of the illustration battles, if you could have anyone as a guest illustrator, who would it be?

Kevin Cornell: Hmmm… well, we both wanted to see the fellows from Wulffmorgenthaler do one. But their agent never wrote me back.

“The game itself is
just the perfect formula for
inspiring the next hero.”

.think | 3. How has the ubiquity of the web changed or challenged you as an illustrator?

Kevin Cornell: I think the web has made it much easier to get work in front of people than it is in print. But then, it also tends to pick up and spit out individual portfolio pieces quicker—one day you’ve got 5,000 people looking at your work, the next day 10. This aspect probably unconsciously led me—and other web illustrators—to change the way we promote and produce work.

Instead of disappearing down a hole and emerging a year later with a big portfolio piece, we take small projects that can quickly be put in a public forum or weblog, maintaining the frequency of exposure. Or, if one DID have a large, year-long project, they’d be more apt to give updates to an audience throughout the process.

.think | 4. What’s your favorite super hero creation and why?

Kevin Cornell: I think my favorite that I created was Figleif. I like the text, the hero is well-drafted and has good contrast, the reply itself was (from my perspective, at least) clever, and I was quite excited to have been able to add the runes that actually spell something.

It just all came together. What’s more, it came together without a huge amount of effort; some things you really have to sit and noodle with for hours before it gets right, and some things just miraculously happen right the first time.

Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of luck every now and then?

.think | 5. Describe your sense of humor; is it as well-developed as it seems or do you just muster one for the sake of The Superest site?

Kevin Cornell: Well, I couldn’t say whether it’s well-developed or not. I can’t stand political jokes or jokes about celebrities. I like jokes to be about universal things, things most everyone has experienced. Yet I can’t stand jokes about flatulence. I just don’t find it funny. I was actually pretty disappointed when I made Wind Breaker and everyone thought I was making a fart joke. And jokes about animals are pretty funny. But animals that are animated to sing, talk, and dance are NOT funny.

.think | 6. Has Pixar come calling, wanting to animate any of your super heroes, and what will you say when they do?

Kevin Cornell: Haha—no, no calls. And I expect if they DO call, it would be lawyers saying “Hey, stop ripping off our ideas.” Or to extend Matt’s restraining order another 30 feet.

.think | 7. You’ve created so many super heroes in such a short timeframe; where do you draw your inspiration from?

Kevin Cornell: Well, that’s what first excited Matt and I about creating the site; the game itself is just the perfect formula for inspiring the next hero. There have only been a handful of instances where I didn’t know how to beat the previous hero. Most of the time, the way to beat your opponent is just thinking about how that hero’s strength could also be a weakness.

.think | 8. Can you envision creating the ultimate super hero–one with such unparalleled powers–that it could end the series?

Kevin Cornell: Sure, it’s Chet The Commenter. That’s the guy who lists every possible hero reply in the comments before Sutter or I have a chance to draw it. When he strikes, we’re screwed.

.think | 9. Within arm’s length, what work-related item do you feel is most important to you and why?

Kevin Cornell: Probably this computer. I’d have a hell of a time getting the drawings online without it. Though the chair plays a big part in my day as well. Hmmm… this is a tough choice.

.think | 9-1/2. What’s your super power?

Kevin Cornell: I once went fishing with a bamboo pole and caught 5 fish, while the people next to me caught nothing. So I imagine it’s some sort of fishing power, which is a real shame because my weakness is handling bait.

Kevin’s wit and work can be viewed at his site, Bearskinrug.com. He is also the staff illustrator at A List Apart.

Check out The Superest’s ongoing battle here.

Vanquishing Super Heroes One Illustration at a Time

In an ongoing battle of one-upmanship, each post on The Superest website features a one-panel illustration of a super hero.

The hook? Two illustrators take turns, and the power of each new super hero must cancel the power of the previous character. The Superest is based on an offline game created by Andy Havens called, “My Team, Your Team.”

Wholly Exclusivity Batman!

In spite of a growing fan base, The Superest is for the most part just animator/designer Matthew Sutter and illustrator/designer Kevin Cornell. It represents a highly creative use of online social conventions, allowing many to share and comment on an experience typically enjoyed by individuals in solitude.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Unlike Coudal Partner’s popular Layer Tennis, Sutter and Cornell seem content to war on for the pure fun and camaraderie of the experience.

“We built The Superest because we just wanted a place to play this game against each other. People seem to enjoy watching, and we’re thankful for that; but turning this site into a user-content focused site pretty much sucks the joy out of it for us, because we go from being two artists having fun, to being site administrators and moderators.”

-Kevin Cornell

Luckily, The Superest creators set out to have some fun and we’re all invited.

Stay Tuned

Tomorrow Kevin Cornell answers 9-1/2 questions about The Superest site and his life as a creative illustrator.