I enjoyed designing the Fusty Scholar retro-look tobacco tin so much, and it was well received, so I decided to try another one. Going for the vintage and weathered look again, I utilized the same approach as for the first one. I went looking through my clip art collection to find a suitable illustration, and then went about matching the packaging copy to the graphic.
And thus, Mad Dog Smoking Tobacco was born (see below). A quick Google search determined that there isn't a real tobacco by that name, so I began designing. Again, I kept it simple for two reasons. From a design standpoint, packaging especially should be kept simple, so I didn't get carried away with colors and kept with a minimum palette. Also, since I'm offering these for sale at my t-shirt shop, The Erudite Outlet, I have to be conscious of what looks good on apparel and other merchandise.
The design is available on a variety of men's and women's t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, etc., plus other merchandise like mousepads, greeting cards, aprons, bags, coffee mugs and more.
I'm enjoying exploring the idea of faux retro looking tobacco tins and am kicking around some other ideas. Perhaps with two now under my belt, I'll go for a series of four to offer at the shop. I would welcome any feedback on this design, or ideas for future ones.
Cheers!
- Bob
For some time now I've wanted to try my hand at designing a tobacco tin. The first task was to find a suitable piece of art, so I spent probably a good hour or so looking through my clip art collection until I found the right "look." Then I needed a name for the tobacco, one that fit the illustration but was a bit whimsical.
I identified the artwork as "scholarly" almost immediately, but had a little trouble finding the adjective to go with it. Pipe smoking is a bit of an old-fashioned activity these days, I'm afraid, so I started looking for words that connoted "old-fashioned." I finally hit upon "fusty" in the thesaurus.
"Fusty" hit me right away because it has two meanings. One is indeed "old-fashioned" and the other is "old and decaying" and I thought of the comments my wife and family make when I'm smoking a tobacco strong in Latakia or perique. I wanted the label to be a bit whimsical, so I went with "Fusty Scholar" which in itself could mean that the tobacco is old-fashioned/decaying or the scholar himself is. The double meaning was especially satisfying.
It was then a matter of designing the label itself, which didn't take too long. It's not especially elaborate, but I think the best graphic designs, especially for packaging, rely on simplicity. What you see below is the final result, with a weathered or distressed look since I placed it on some apparel available at The Erudite Outlet, my online t-shirt shop.
Any comments or criticisms are most welcome.
Cheers!
- Bob
