The Turkish company Altunkale, which specializes in the production of affordable Turkish delight, contacted me with a request for a complete redesign of their packaging. The brief highlighted the unremarkable appearance of their existing packaging, which failed to capture consumers' attention. Upon studying the product segment, I was surprised to find that most manufacturers had nearly identical designs consisting of stock ornaments and images. This was astonishing to me because this product was created by Turkish confectioners, so I expected to see unique graphic solutions.
Upon studying the product segment, I was surprised to find that most manufacturers had nearly identical designs consisting of stock ornaments and images. This was astonishing to me because this product was originally created by Turkish confectioners, so I expected to see unique graphic solutions.
For the central element of the new design, I chose to feature a Turkish confectioner, the creator of Turkish delight. Just as I did previously, I turned to AI for help. That greatly saved time, provided more inspiration, and allowed the client to be involved in the process. The client chose the most suitable character for the project from the presented variants.
Obviously, the clothing elements contained several rough errors, but all of this was no longer important. I could draw the remaining body parts myself.
After completing the character design, I continued creating the background. I offered the client three background options, two of which featured famous architectures in Istanbul, while the third had Ottoman-style ornaments.
So we had the character and the complementary background in place, and now it was time for the equally important part—the lettering.
I also worked on the second half of the packaging design, which would contain the composition of Turkish delight. I created the design concept based on the optimal background and lettering.
Upon completing the sketches, I started the final drawing of all the elements. This may seem like a minor detail, but it was the first time that every element of the composition was drawn by hand. Prior to this, everyone used stock images (clipart).
During the final character rendering, I created several versions of it to ensure the logo would integrate perfectly with the packaging composition.
In addition to the full-color raster version of the logo, there was also a need to create a black-and-white vector and engraved version. This is done specifically for cases where it's not possible to print the logo in color, like on cardboard boxes.
This may seem like a simple procedure done with filters, but in reality, the graphics were created manually. It's not so easy to replicate identical facial features precisely; an extra stroke can make the face unrecognizable.
The compositions are complete, all types of logos are ready, and now we move on to designing the entire packaging. I also offered the client (at no extra charge) to place textual information (the manufacturer's address, contacts, barcode, and ingredients) on the sides of the packaging, with a vertical version of the design on the reverse side of the packaging.
Packaging design is one of the key factors influencing consumer choice. This means that attractive design determines your profit margin and the salaries of your employees. But there are countries and cultures where visual art is underdeveloped due to the absence of specialized educational institutions, corruption, religious beliefs, or colonial heritage. It's also possible that the services of professional design studios in your country are beyond your reach.
To all those facing similar problems I want to say that you have a choice. I’ve been involved in design since 1995. It doesn't matter where you are; if you need the help of a specialist, please contact me at r.demirqaya@gmail.com.
