The brief for this range was along the lines of ‘Elegant tropical’ with a mainstream appeal that would work for a more mature female age group at an attainable price point but jaunty enough to avoid alienating the younger market.

The challenge was to create a look and feel that would work in seamlessly with the the original branding whilst avoiding clashing with the design of the contained products. This was achieved by choosing a palate that would tonally complement the product design as well as combining typography from that design, with the uppercase strength and timeless nature of the heading typeface ‘Altheas’.

The Cream colour of the contained products was tonally unified by the metallic bronze edging in an Art Deco/Gatsby like celebration, reminiscent of a framed book plate placed on the title page of an early 20th Century tome.

The tropical print was illustrated digitally using an ipad with the brief of a ‘sophisticated, exotic take on a typical tropic pattern.’

The chosen colour palate is obscure in its jewel tones. Rather than settling on the traditional bird of paradise scheme, the yellow tones were significantly reduced and referenced a more majestic Indian varietal with its inky purple stalk and pink stained, feather white petals. I threw in a bit of peach to bring some recognition of the tropic theme to the detriment of botanical accuracy.

The ghost like quality of the jade monstera and its primitive line-work over watercolour wash, modernises the print without venturing too far outside Big W’s mainstream market.