BLAH SODA

The illustration created felt like it could be used in a more comercial sense, and I felt it needed to be on a Soda, something that just screamed BLAH. How do you transform an art work to become the face of a soda that gives off the same energy as the illustration? What elements needed to be added and how are you going to brand it?

To create an intuitive, visually appealing, and fun soda brand that resonates with people and leads them to go BLAH.

As the product designer I had to dig into soda branding and explore different sodas across the world. My main focus was Japan and the USA. After research I had to recreate the design and brand it in a way that would work with different flavors. The creation of Blah soda involved using Illustrator to refine the design, Figma to establish a versatile layout with interchangeable components, and Photoshop to produce mockups. By discovering suitable fonts and devising a sleek and captivating design, the brand was brought to life.

In my role as a Product Designer, I had to research different soda brands, mockups that would work and adapt the illustration to fit into a soda branding

I set out to see the top brands in the USA and in Japan and how they displayed their soda. I compiled the designs of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull, and Monster and jotted down the design elements that make it different. I then complied the designs of Fanta, Tomamosu Soda, and Ramune for Japanese drinks and did the same. I then compared the designs and noticed big difference in how they approach design and sought to understand why such drinks were popular and others were not.

Branding for drinks often advertised the activity you would be doing that you would require to drink such a soda. Take red Bull for instance, they advertise extreme sports and after that event is finished they would grab a Red Bull and drink it. The user would then associate the act of extreme sports with Red Bull and the next time they are in the same situation they will most likely buy a Red Bull. This made me think that for BLAH to succeed in branding, a certain act had to be associated with it. That act was the need of a casual drink during an event, something that cools you off but makes you stand out from the crowd, to give you that fun vibe.

Having a fun soda brand that doesn't look too generic and has an anime vibe to it was fun to make. I could have done more to make the can more full and blend in to itself but I liked the minimal aesthetic of it that focuses on the illustration in the middle.

Opting for BIG FAT font was a great decision as it perfectly conveyed the graffiti-like look I was aiming for. Pairing it with the Mouhitsu font, a thick-stroked calligraphic font, complements the overall design and aesthetic of Blah soda. Together they created a cohesive and harmonious design.

Creating a color set based on the flavors was a fun choice to make, while keeping the original colors of the illustration for the "original flavor"

Developing a soda brand was a thrilling experience, requiring exploration of soda design, although I realized that I could have delved even deeper. If the project had evolved beyond a mere concept, I would have likely opted for a distinct approach, fleshing out the design and adding intricate details to the soda can. In retrospect, I am satisfied with the outcome, as Blah exudes its own unique persona, even now when I see the design I can't help but scream BLAH. I really enjoyed making this.