One of the reasons I was interested in my job at SKLZ, was because I got the chance to work with package design. Products were developed and launched with a seasonal calendar, so they would be in market at relevant times for that products sport season. With the developed package guideline already existing, new design work was working with the action hero and action photos that were to be included.

In order assure that the best representation of the product, and to highlight the top feature, it was important to storyboard the layout of the action hero in the space provided by the package die line and template. This was important especially with unusual or limited size packages. This storyboard would act as a guide for the photo shoot. The product messaging docs would be a guide for the other action photos needed. With this information gathered, the photo shoots would have an outline for assets needed to capture.

Once the photos were collected, it was time to Photoshop. The images below are an example of some of the retouching process needed for the basketball products.

Dribble Stick

Product photos were also needed, as you need to see what the product is that you're buying. We would shoot these in our in house photo studio. Product photo assets were sketched to include the #1 feature, angle and that it would fit within the space allowed. A few photos would be shot for other panels that included a creative angle of the product.

Custom Package Design

Some products would need a custom box developed. Various aspects of the product would dictate this, weather its because of the unusual build of the product itself, or in order to highlight the product feature. A form factor meeting would outline what aspects are needed for each product. From there, we would sketch and comp up a package to fit the product needs. This would then be brought to a 3d rendering, and be provided to our boxologist to develop the dieline. The example below shows the sketches, renderings and developmental stages of the jump rope package.

Seldomly a product would need a unique design that is outside of the brand package style. One of the first package design projects I worked on was for Kool N Fit. This is a sports spray that is similar to Icy Hot. This product had a couple specific product trademarks that needed to be included in the SKLZ design.

The product had to be packaged in a white bottle for cost and manufacturing reasons. To incorporate with the SKLZ and sporty aesthetic, as well as demonstrating the product, a diagonal line that showed spray drops was featured in the background. This was colored in a green tone to tie in with a natural aspects of the spray, as well as the menthol smell. The label had a matte coating, and this diagonal strip had a spot uv applied.

A PDQ for this product was also designed. The front of the PDQ included a larger product feature label, and this was covered up on the package from the front build. The top of the PDQ would be folded and tucked in the back of the area to create a back header. This panel was used as a billboard for the product headline. Last, to demonstrate where and how this product was used, key body part applications were photographed and shown on the side panels. This was a really unusual product that fit outside of normal sport training products. And honestly, it smelt pretty bad. Unless you like overpowering menthol smell. I had to stare at a guys crotch for hours as I was photoshopping the leg photo. Not my favorite photoshop dilemma.

Well thats a pretty good wrap up for some of the package designs I worked on. A few randoms to wrap up will be included below as soon as I get the files and composite them.

Rachel's Ramblings

SKLZ Package Design

Dribble Stick

Custom Package Design