Product Development
The Muse Collection
I created the Muse Collection for Smithmade Essentials, consisting of four unique soy candle scents. The collection is designed to inspire creativity and evoke imaginative thoughts of distant worlds through its carefully crafted themes and aromas. On this page, I’ve detailed the entire development process, including conceptualization, package design, and illustration.
Step 1
The Concept
The original concept for this collection was to showcase fragrances that draw inspiration from literary genres and the lifestyle of bibliophiles. Initially, it was named the "Writer's Muse Collection." The development process began with thorough research into the writing community, to understand their interests, struggles, and where candles could fit in their daily routines.
A snippet of conversations around writing topics.
I created two personas based on popular content creators in the online writing community. These helped influence some of the scents developed for the collection. I also read through forums where writers discussed their routines and struggles, which gave me insight into how to position the collection in the market.
I created a project board to organize my research and explore ideas as I began developing the scents. My research and exploration expanded the original idea of focusing on writers to focusing on inspiring creative thought no matter the medium used.
Milanote project board
Step 2
Jar Design
Choosing the jar style was as much a part of branding as designing the visual identity for the collection. I explored countless options and sourced samples from suppliers.
Final Selection
I chose these jars for their quality, style, budget, and supplier reliability.
The jars have thick and sturdy glass, along with a heavy bottom. This gives them a substantial feel and makes them durable enough to withstand shipping and handling.
Sustainability is a brand value. Part of the marketing strategy would be encouraging customers to reuse the candle jar once it's empty. Including a lid on the jar adds to its reuse options, and the wooden lid also complements the natural brand aesthetic.
Step 3
Design & Illustration
The product development presented an opportunity to introduce new artwork into the brand. Since it’s launch in 2018, the brand had used floral watercolor graphics. The challenge was to broaden the scope of the artwork style while staying true to the brand's personality. Therefore, a new phase of research and exploration was launched to discover a style that would perfectly align with the brand's creative needs.
It was decided that the scents would represent abstract ideas aimed at promoting creativity. To visually convey the emotions evoked by each scent, mood boards were created. Each candle had a distinct theme that made it challenging to create artwork that would complement each other as a collection and align with the established brand.
After extensive exploration of art styles, I decided to stick with painted art and focus on introducing new colors and textures that would be unique to this collection.
Final Result
The final artwork is predominantly watercolor, with each label capturing the essence of the mood boards created for each fragrance. This expansion of the brand's artwork is successfully unique to this collection while staying within the established brand style.
Step 4
Photography
Photo style inspiration boards for each scent.
