#BTS Packaging Series: Colors

Colors

"Culturally loud, proud and playful"

Few days later, while I was blending spices for each popcorn flavor, looked down and realized the colors were right there.

Vibrant and colorful are two of the top 5 adjectives I'd use to describe Indian culture. Our apparel, food, religion, music and festivities are all threaded with loud and beautiful colors! There was no doubt I wanted to bring that energy into Confusion's packaging.

I needed to find colors for each popcorn pouch -- Black Truffle Masala, Chaat Mint and Chili Chaat. The colors needed to be both a cultural and functional fit -- they should blend perfectly at a Holi party and reflect the flavor profile of each popcorn flavor.

I first drew inspiration from color schemes of the weddings I attended in India. I picked colors from the decor and apparel at functions like Haldi and Sangeet. While I was able to find eye-catching colors, I wasn't able to tick the functional box.

Few days later, while I was blending spices for each popcorn flavor, I looked down and realized the colors were right there. Turmeric, Kashmiri Red Chili, Spearmint and Chaat Masala all have naturally vibrant hues and are the literal color of the spice. Cultural fit ✅, functional fit ✅.

I took photos of the raw spices, uploaded them to Adobe Illustrator, used color picker tool to grab each color, and made minor tweaks to bring the best out of each spice. Since each popcorn flavor is a blend of multiple spices, I made the background a color gradient vs. a single color. For example, the top of the Chaat Mint pouch is more of the Spearmint green color and gradually blends with the warmer, sand-like color of Chaat Masala.

Here's the final color schemes!