Pattern + Packaging Design with Amy

What does being the Greenleaf Creative Brand Manager entail?
I get to do all sorts of things for Greenleaf from fragrance to products to art and catalogs. It encompasses a whole wide spectrum.
How do you begin creating a pattern for new fragrances?
We start with a fragrance that was paneled, then it goes into a holistic panel to decide what the packaging looks like. Today we’re going to talk about Cucumber Lily which came out in the spring. It is a fruity floral. It’s got some melon notes, cucumber, lilies, and roses. It is a perfect spring time blend.
First I paint the artwork – paint bits and pieces of the overall pattern. Then I’ll layer those in to create one complete art file. For example, with Cucumber Lily, I had an inspiration pattern. Then I took bits and pieces and painted them. They don’t look like too much here, but these are very intricate and take a lot of time and detail work to get in there and get the layers. It’s all about the layering. You want to get the different feel- the looseness, but also the line work and different colors and shading to give it depth.
What does the process of moving from watercolor to a photoshop file for packaging look like?
I just scan the watercolor in the computer and use Photoshop. So, in Photoshop, you’re doing a lot of pen tool to create your shapes and cut out some of your watercolor scan. Then comes in the layering, and I think this Cucumber Lilly pattern has close to 75 layers. It takes a lot to keep it managed because you’re trying to create a huge pattern that doesn’t have holes. You’ve got to vary it up, and make sure you don’t see the same thing in a row and just create that whole wallpaper look where you don’t see the repeat. That’s how you create a piece of final artwork you can use across all of the packaging.
Want to know more? Watch Amy go through her process in the video below!
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