Soirée

This project was my first substantial exploration of packaging design, and it required me to develop both conceptual and technical skills simultaneously.

On the conceptual side, I learned how to translate a brand identity into a three-dimensional object. Soirée's positioning around ritual, refinement, and celebration had to be legible not just through graphics but through material choice, structural form, and the tactile experience of opening and handling the package. I learned that packaging design is not a container for a product but an extension of it.

On the technical side, I worked with acrylic as a primary material and learned the specific constraints and possibilities of laser cutting, including how to design for the precision the process requires and how to account for material thickness in structural joints. The most significant technical challenge was developing a mortise and tenon structure, a joinery method borrowed from woodworking and furniture making, and adapting it to acrylic components. This taught me how structural decisions affect both the integrity of the object and the experience of assembling and disassembling it.

Working from concept to finished object within a single project gave me a complete understanding of the packaging design process: from material research and structural prototyping, to print specification and final production. I came away with a much clearer sense of how every decision, material, structure, surface, and finish, contributes to what the object communicates before it is even opened.