Packaging Animation Frames

ILLUSTRATION

The finished illustration was created as the last of nine frames for a web animation depicting how blister packaging is created. The actual pens, in a blister pack, were used for reference.

The idea for the animation was to show the package from sketch to final product, so nine illustrations, or frames, would be needed. The first frame was the sketch, then the blank cut out card. Next came the blue, the magenta, the yellow, and the black, as if to show the colors being put down one at a time, one over the other. While the actual printing was four color process cyan-magenta-yellow-black, the animation would show four simple colors to make it visually simple.

After the black was down, the illustrated pens came into their place on the card. Next, the clear blister was added over the pens, and then the final illustration was the ninth frame. The blister was visually complicated, so its presence alone did not complete the effect. The blister was rendered in a pale blue to mimic the shading of the plastic.

When the blister illustration was placed over the pens, transparency was used in places so the pens would show through. Some white was needed for effect on the transparent parts, and also as added highlights on the outside of the plastic. It had to look clear and shiny, but it also had to show the molded shape over the pens. That can really only be done with the pens and printed card beneath the blister illustration so that the visual adjustments can be made, hence the need for the final finished package illustration.

In the lower image at left, left to right, we see the pens illustration, the blister illustration, and the pens with the blister placed over them at 50% opacity. It doesn’t quite work, does it? On the far right we see the final card with pens and blister.

Sometimes rendering techniques are not as simplistic as they would seem, and we have to improvise visually to get the proper effect.