My Journey. My Story.

Inspired by a one-handed first aid kit to exploring why Japan is called the land of the rising sign, my project has grown over the course of this final major project. Starting off as a homesick style care-package made to help someone when homesick. A kit that is designed to look like home, filled with things such as photographs, candles and things to remind someone of home. But as the project progressed, the outcome evolved. It has gone from a loose, messy bindle idea, to a box that was organised and perfect but inconvenient and quite frankly boring a a reusable, lightweight, durable and apparently, fashionable drawstring bag. When the 3 outcomes were presented to my target audience, practically 90%+ people voted for the bag. The bag was quickly popular and now the chosen final outcome for the care-packages. From there, my project developed even more. Everyone has their own ideas of home. Their own set of things that is personal and trying to replicate the feeling of home from things I could put in a care-package would be nearly impossible. Successful in reminding them of home... maybe? But actually making those things feel like home would be nearly impossible. To feel like home, the items need to have memories and experiences associated with them. And most memories are made with friends and family. Time spent with the people you loved at a place, a country and if you travel with them, you have memories with them around the world. So what if, the care-packages were themed based on countries. Care-packages that look like a variety of countries to trigger memories of those places and possibly home. And because it's in a bag format, the contents of the bags are yours to fill and literally become a care-package when you travel with them whilst carrying and showing of the place you like to call home.

Each Care-Package, designed with the intention to look like a specific country. Designed in close liaison with people of that country to incorporate the elements and patterns of the country that makes it home from them. Designed by the people for the people kind of situation. It has been an incredible experience and journey being able to communicate, gather feedback and improve on with advice from friend, family, strangers that are now friends that aided in coming up and perfecting these designs. Communicating with my target audience has helped shape this project over due course and has thought be to take more risks, to explore new themes, learn about new cultures, to explore new identities in design and to further my knowledge and skill in graphic communication. Overall, this has been a great experience and is a project I'm going to adopt and further develop even after the end of this fmp. I want to continue exploring new countries, their cultures, identities to speak to people from that country and to further design and develop more care-packages. Many of my target audience, friends and family also wish to purchase these products, hence, I also intend to find a way to maybe set up store with Contrado or find a way to sell these products through a platform as I wish to bring this project into the light and out there into the world outside and see it being used in public.

Project "Care-Package"

Carry A Bit Of Home Wherever You Go

~ Pavithiran Charlas

11/03/18, the final blogpost reflection for Project "Care-Package"

FINAL MAJOR PROJECT// UAL CCW FOUNDATION 2017-18