As this unit first started, I started off by going right from the bottom and researched tea, and where it all came from. I feel that I researched this in depth, to the point where it was relevant to my unit, in a way which will effect my thinking, planning, and final piece. Although I did do plenty of research, I will that I could have done more, and looked more into the originality of tea, so I could get a really good idea of where tea came from, and base my ideas around more of the originality side of tea, and it being more that, than something which you’d see on the shelves, or online these days.

 

Some things I think I did really well, was design the product, in a way which prevented it’s self as a high quality tea product, not sold on the normal shelves on the super markets beside the normal, everyday, cheep tea. Things which suggest this is the size of the product; I wanted this product to be large, which would mean it’d look more worth the money, instead of buying something small, and cheaply put together. The idea of having six different boxes, all came together to make something which didn’t seem like one thing, but instead, as someone was buying this one thing, it was as if they were buying lots of things within this, which was of corse, true. This is another reason why I decided to include something like else other than tea bags, and a selection of flavours. I included two, classy glasses in the product, as this really is something that you wouldn’t find involved with in a tea product on the shelves in the everyday super market. This also meant that the product it’s self had something to offer which could last for every, making the product worth my, and more convincing to purchase as a gift. 

 

Some things which I didn’t do as well, was put it together. As it was a large size and made completely out of my own designed and mapped out nets, I knew that it was going to be a problem printing it out, and putting it together. Although I checked over the maths and the measurements of the product - which came out to be all correct - because I was putting it together by hand, the slightest millimetres off, meant that the whole things then kept on changing, and as I put it together, it became more and more obvious, than something went wrong, as it didn’t quite fit all together. Although this was only a prototype, and was only an example which I ended up presenting, I would have liked it to be all straight, but I knew the risks, as I was making something very specific my product, which meant I couldn’t make it around another object. I chose to do this, with the thought of knowing that it would have been perfect - down to the millimetre - if it was made by a machine.

Knowing that it was made by hand and that it was a prototype, I think it was very good, although, meant it might not have presented how I would have liked it to.

 

I think that the product came together really well, and that my primary and secondary research came together in a way which really formed my final piece. For example, the questionnaire I put together really helped in deciding what route I should go down towards when it came to designing. Although I had a clear idea on what I wanted my product to look like, from research and from the feedback I received from my questionnaire, I looked at artists and designers which I then carried on forming my ideas, illustrations and designs with. My end product was successfully influenced by researched artists and designers, which I based my work on.

 

However, in the brief, it was requested that the packaging shouldn’t be simple and square, but should be unusual, interesting, and different. Although my end result was fairly squared looking, I feel that I still explored with net designs, and brought together different sizes and shapes into my net designs, which then came together to create something classy, sleek, and finished. I feel that it would have been difficult to produce something which wasn't simple and square, and not classy and sleek. Something which is quite expensive and different, shouldn’t mean that it shouldn’t be simple and square, but it should mean that the functionality and the product it provides, should be different from the everyday, bulk tea that people would normally buy on a day to day basis. Therefore, I think that creating this large box, to be given as a gift and placed on the side of a kitchen work surface is perfect, and just right for the purpose it was made for.

 

Finally, as I started researching adverts - popular and un popular - I quickly came to realise what was most effective and what didn’t work as well. During my research, I realised that emotional impacting your chosen audience is the most effective, therefore, most common. Knowing this technique and success, I knew that I couldn’t create something along the lines of a john lewis advert, as I don’t have a spare £7,000,000 hanging around, but with the equipment and time I had, I think that the end product came out really well. Although I didn’t plan on using any specific technique, I think that the over all editing, photography, colours, text, and audio is really interactive, and is exactly what an advert is, without the story behind it. If I had more time, I would have liked to plan out a whole story board, and involve a well known technique, but as I was limited on time, and props, and people, this would have been very tricky. On the other hand, I think that the research that I carried out, reflected on my TV commercial, and was just right for what the brief was asking of.

 

Over all, I think that my in depth research and evaluations, successfully came together to produce a product which met the briefs needs.