DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
NI : The main principle of this design was to translate the brand into an upscale coffee retail environment at Starbucks, inspired by Starbucks new move to the Starbucks Reserve model.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
NI : I wanted it to be simple and clean with a gold foil banana and foil logo so the lights inside the store would reflect off of the registered matte material and draw people in.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
NI : We will be expanding this line to all Starbucks stores nationwide in the US which total over 12,000.
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
NI : From concept to completion it took about 8 full months.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
NI : I wanted to do something exclusive to Starbucks in accordance with their new Starbucks Reserve, premium offering model.
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
NI : An exclusive deal with Starbucks to sell this product nationwide in over 12,000 stores in the US.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
NI : Consumers that shop at Starbucks and like bananas.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
NI : This concept was created specifically for this retailer, so the name just made sense.
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
NI : I used Illustrator and Photoshop for the design itself. In creating prototypes I used metalized film with transparent yellow overlays to get the perfect shade of gold. Other tools included: Canon DSLR, pencil and paper.
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
NI : The package is matte with a gold foil banana, gold/silver foil logo and glossy logos making the package very dynamic.
DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
NI : Yes, I tested this design in two ways. First, I put the design concepts on Facebook to see which one garnered the most attention. Secondly, we did a test roll out in 200 stores to simulate a national rollout. Based on the design's strong performance, we went with the final concept that you now see.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
NI : I feel that the uniqueness of this type of product and packaging combined with the brand ethos of Barnana and Starbucks made for a concept that was successful and well received.
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
NI : Use the environment's surroundings when designing something this specific. The lighting in the stores themselves really made this package perform especially well whereas in other lighting conditions, perhaps a slightly different design would have worked best.