My darling imagineer, 2 weeks ago I asked this curious little question: Can I transform how a simple, ordinary metal tin is perceived by narrating different {visual} stories for it? The answer? Well, it blew my mind off like a celebration champagne bottle cork.
Not only was it the most fun I’ve had with a creative challenge yet, the kind of imagination I was seeing from my imagineers was nothing short of strawberry-shortcake-fantastic (read on, you’ll see what I mean). And the lessons learned? Oh quite a shining few, and I’ll be sharing all these as well.
Here’s a summary of the premise in case you missed it the first time around here. 5 days, 5 ordinary mint-tin doppelgangers, 5 {design} stories. And there were rules of course (to spice the challenge up), my hand-illustrations only, tension, diversity, unexpected delightfulness and most of all, gobs and gobs of fun.
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Part of the way through, I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to ask my imagineers what they thought was in each box just by how it appeared on the outside? This ended up being, for me, the highlight of this creative challenge. Never judge a book by its cover, or a box contents by its outside? Oh yes, much judging going on, which you’ll see ( I’ve included some of my favorites), and all wonderful. Important lesson learned: appearances matter.
Presenting….the 5 Storytelling Tins (click images for larger version)!
Tin Storytelling Day 1 (above second from the left)
This is the one that started it all, a quick concept piece to show a talented business owner I was talking to. I wanted it to be vintage-inspired, a little cheeky and fun.
Here’s my favorite imagineer guess, from Sally Ann. How amazing is her answer? I can see it in my mind’s eye so vividly. Sally Ann has an incredible way with words!:
“The mints inside are the color of kisses. They are the shade of pink when it is flushed with joy, the color of summer roses. Each little candy is in the shape of kissing lips, which almost resembles the heart which is a-flutter. The flavor is vanilla-mint, fresh but also sweet and familiar. A delicate pink tissue lines the simple box, its edges are sweetly scalloped like a valentine.”
Tin Storytelling Day 2 (above right)
The story, a sweet little box for something sea-inspired, perhaps a little gift shop in a small beachfront town.
Tin Storytelling Day 3 (above left)
The story? Something for a the forest wanderer, pebble-picker, nature lover. And Kimberely totally picked up on it:
“Beautiful shells with opalescent colors, sweet lil stones that are smooth to the touch…”
Tin Storytelling Day 4 (above middle)
This was a fun one, I wanted to experiment with something edgier but still elegant, like a lady all dressed up in leather and chains but instead of being stereotypically brash, she’s sweet, and polite and all class. There were many good imagineering going on with this so it’s a tough pick. Chocolates seem to be on the mind, for some reason. Lesson learned: Perception works in mysterious ways, it just might surprise you.
“Individually wrapped dark chocolates with mint, coco nibs, almond pieces, and cayenne pepper.” -Patrick (is your mouth watering yet?)
“Beautiful jewellery I bought by myself for myself with a note to myself about why I deserve it.” –Lisa (I love love how empowering this is!)
Tin Storytelling Day 5 (right)
This is one of my favorites. For the exploring, wanderlusting heart. Tracy left a beautiful quote for this and I just had to share it:
“It seems to me there’s so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see. I believe, if you look hard, there are more wonders in this universe than you could ever have dreamt of.”–Richard Curtis, Vincent and the Doctor
Does this box contain a compass & a map maybe? For someone who travels the world looking for something precious?” -Tracy. (Yes! Also maybe a tiny little hand-crafted jewel of a magnifying glass, a miniature leather journal and a little gold pen, for recording all those wondrous sightings!)
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Are you enchanted yet? I am, completely. The last and most important lesson learned: imagination can surprise us in so many delightful and important ways, always be creating experiences to tease it out.
To wrap it all up, let’s examine the three important lessons learned:
Apply this in how you approach your brand and product storytelling (packaging design) and it will absolutely change how you perceive your product packaging!:
- Oh yes, appearances matter. (Don’t let anyone tell you any different.)
- Perception works in mysterious ways, it just might surprise you. (Reaction is always better than no reaction, horrors!)
- Imagination can surprise us in so many delightful and important ways, always be creating experiences to tease it out. ( Use this to your advantage, story-tell in a way that transports your peeps to worlds you want them to be in, where your product or service wears the bejeweled crown)
This creative challenge has been one of the most playful, useful and deliciously satisfying exercises I’ve done so far and I’m having so much fun, and seeing so much imagination from you that there will be future ones, I promise! So keep an eye for it. I’ve got some big, orange-juicy ideas brewing inside the tree space!
Tell me, imagineer, did the storytelling tin guesses above coincide with yours? What other concept pieces would you like to see me take on in future creative challenges? Chocolate boxes? Welcome goodie bags? CD packaging? Leave a comment below and I just might pick your idea!
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And of course, for the ultimate product storytelling (packaging design ) adventure, there’s this:
