PROJECT II: Countries and Seasons
Objective: To develop four package designs representing the four seasons in four different parts of the world, and another package that will bring your four individual packages together as a set.
Upon receiving the brief for this project and being informed of the more delicate details, I was excited to move forward. Package design has been a personal interest of mine and something I wanted to consider for a future graphic design career.
Research: Four Seasons and Countries
The cities and seasons chosen for this project are:
Taipei (Spring)
Palermo (Summer)
Abidjan (Fall)
Moscow (Winter)
Below, is the following research that I conducted on these countries and their seasons. For all topics, though it is not individually listed, I looked into various staples of the location that we were assigned while creating designs at the moment and configuring a brand. Things like national/seasonal flowers, popular gastronomy, and deserts, as well as other notable items/specifics. Videos were also a great help in visual and informational aid.
Springtime in Taipei
Notable things about Taipei:
- Cherry blossom season (specific to springtime)
- Hiking in Taiwan’s mountains
- Yangminshan Hill (cherry blossoms)
- Calla lilies
Spring in Taipei is somewhat to the spring we all know and love. Its springtime weather is considered the best, especially during April, and there are countless things to do as well as much to enjoy. This article by a man/traveler named Nick who spends his time blogging his trips and what he complies during them was able to provide an endless amount of insight into what it is like in the capital of Taiwan during the springtime.
Cherry blossoms, I’ve learned, are a huge symbol of springtime in many Eastern Asian cultures and the birth of anew, though they bloom in the winter. Other key highlights for springtime are festivals and the beginnings of outdoor activities opening up again. April, again, is the more ideal time to partake in these activities. A big one is hiking, just to list an example that came up the most throughout my research. Besides beaches and wharves and other various activities, hiking is more optimal for spring, considering some want to get it in for the incoming summer typhoon season. Overall, spring is seen as a time for celebration.
The Baosheng Cultural Festival
The Baosheng Cultural Festival is just one of Taipei’s major cultural festivals, rooted in tradition. It’s located on the ornate Baoan Temple, one of Taiwan’s great places of religious worship. It’s the only temple in Taiwan to receive the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
At this event, several traditional ceremonies are highly anticipated. According to the article listed in the first line, one of the visually spectacular events during the two-month celebration is the hour-long fang huoshi (放火獅), or in English the Fire Lion Fireworks Display, held at night in the temple-front plaza before wide-eyed crowds.
Additional Links
Summer in Palermo
Notable things about Palermo:
Famous for —
- Culture
- History
- Architecture
- Gastronomy
Just like in the United States, Palermo is a summer that’s filled with sometimes unbearably hot and sticky summer days. It’s a beautiful busy island with miles of coastline, tons of architectural masterpieces, some even filled with art pieces of their own, and rich in culture and history.
Palermo summers last between June and August, with clear skies that usually stand out and last all summer. The sea is still cool, but it won’t stop some from swimming.
They’re popular for things like opera and ballet as well, hosting the Teatro Massimo, the first opera house in Italy and the third-largest opera house in Europe.
For this location and season, I focused on some of the more architectural and structural aspects of the region, compared with the summery aesthetics and colors that come with it. My reasoning for taking this route is considering what is mostly discussed and highlighted in the articles and other information I browsed through. Buildings, art pieces, historical sites, these are what are important to Palermo from the searches I carried out.
Additional Links
Autumn in Abidjan
Of all of the countries provided, Abidjan was certainly the most difficult to collect information for. After looking for as much as I could that served as plausible information relating to Abidjan, I broadened my search to the Ivory Coast, where Abidjan is located.
Notable things about Abidjan:
- Markets
- Street Food
- Beaches
- Bars
- Art Galleries
This is what Lonely Planet had to say regarding Abidjan:
Côte d’Ivoire’s economic engine is strapped between lagoons and waterways, overlooking the crested waves of the Atlantic. At first glimpse, you wonder if these shiny skyscrapers can really be West Africa, but once you walk around Abidjan’s neighborhoods, local life comes alive and the city’s vibrant tropical mood is revealed. — Lonely Planet
Autumn Weather in Abidjan (September through November)
Fall daily highs range from 89.4°F (31.9°C) and 83.1°F (28.4°C), which will feel very nice given the humidity and wind. It rains or snows a significant amount: 4 to 12 days per month. Tourism is the busiest during these months due to the weather, so hotels may be higher priced.
Many who visit Abidjan talk about the visual and practically tangible contrast between different neighborhoods, depicted by distinct feel. To quote Lonely Planet again, “ — each neighborhood’s distinct feel gives you an insight into the vast scope of Abidjan’s character and contradiction; it’s quite common for sharp luxury to exist right next to painful poverty.”
Additional Links
Winter in Moscow
Notable things about Moscow:
- Theatre
- Markets
- Ice Skating
- Parks
- Banyas (Saunas)
Much like the winter we in America are familiar with, Moscow has the potential to chill tourists and residents to the bone. Moscow during the winter has the tendency to truly embody the spirit of Russian Christmas, with an overabundance of Christmas festivals, from the Red Market Square to the Christmas Village. There’s also an annual Winter Festival, along with a multitude of events to attend as well.
Something interesting that I learned during my research was that Moscow also just experienced their warmest winter in 130 years. Because of this, I tried not to incorporate snow and that entire, winter feel, due to the fact that as of recent, it isn’t something that’s really relevant.
